i 


E.  (ARRYL 


THE  LIBRARY 

OF 

THE  UNIVERSITY 
OF  CALIFORNIA 

LOS  ANGELES 


DAVY  AND  THE  GOBLIN 


OR 


WHAT   FOLLOWED    READING   "ALICE'S 
ADVENTURES  IN  WONDERLAND" 


CHARLES    E.  CARRYL 


WITH  ILLUSTRATIONS  BY  E.  B.  BENS  ELI, 


BOSTON  AND  NEW  YORK 
HOUGHTON  MIFFLIN  COMPANY 

•Che  ttiucwibr  press  Cambribge 


COPYRIGHT,  1884,  1885,  1913,  AND  1913,  BY  THE  CENTURY  COMPANY 

COPYRIGHT,  1885,    BY   TICKNOR    AND   COMPANY 

COPYRIGHT,  1OIJ,    BY    CHARLES   E.  CARRYL 

ALL   RIGHTS    RESERVED 


ft 


TO    GUY 


DEAR  LITTLE   BOY,   UPON  THESE   PAGES  FIND 
THE   TANGLED   FANCIES   OF   THY  FATHER'S   MIND, 

BORN    OF     THE     HOURS    WHEN    THOU,     A    LITTLE     CHILD, 

THRONED  ON   HIS   KNEE   IN  BREATHLESS   RAPTURE   SMILED, 
HEARING   ENTRANCED  THE   MARVELS   THAT  WERE  TOLD 

OF    FAY    AND    GOBLIN     IN    THE     DAYS     OF    OLD. 

WOULD  THAT   THE   GLAMOUR   OF   THOSE   CLOUDLESS  DAYS 
MIGHT  CHEER  THEE  STILL,  WHAT  TIME  THE  TOILSOME  MAZB 

OF     RIPER    YEARS     HATH     BANISHED     FAIRY    LORE 

AND     BLITHESOME     YOUTH     HATH    FLED     TO     COME    NO     MORE.' 


1910328 


CONTENTS. 


PAOB 

CHAPTER    I. 
How  THE  GOBLIN  CAME  .        .        .        .        .       .        .       .       11 

CHAPTER    II. 
THE  BEGINNING  OF  THE   BELIEVING  VOYAGE       .        .       «        19 

CHAPTER    III. 
IN  THE   SUGAR-PLUM   GARDEN        ......        28 

CHAPTER    IV. 
THE  BUTTERSCOTCHMEN 87 

CHAPTER    V. 
JACK  AND  THE  BEAN-STALK'S  FARM 42 

CHAPTER    VI. 
THE  GIANT  BADORFUL 63 

CHAPTER    VII. 
THE  MOVING  FOREST 63 

CHAPTER    VIII. 

SlNDBAD    THE    SAILOR'S    HOUSE  ......          79 


8  CONTENTS. 

MM 

CHAPTER    IX. 
LAY-OVERS  FOR  MEDDLERS 96 

CHAPTER    X. 
RIBSY  ...  99 

CHAPTER    XL 
ROBINSON  CRUSOE'S  ISLAND 110 

CHAPTER    XII. 
A  WHALE  IN  A  WAISTCOAT 123 

CHAPTER    XIII. 
THE  TALKING  WAVES  AND  THE  OLD  SEA-DOG  .       .       .134 

CHAPTER    XIV. 
THE  END  OF  THE  BELIEVING  VOYAGE  .        .  .      145 


ILLUSTRATIONS. 


FAGft 

DAVY  AND  THE  GOBLIN  ...... 


•*  4  I'LL  STEER,'  SAID  THE  GOBLIN  "  ......  17 

"NEXT  CAME  MARY  FARINA"         ......  20 

THE  RABBIT  TAKES  LIBERTIES  WITH    DAVY'S  PROPERTY     .  21 

*'!'M  A  COCKALORUM,"   HE  SOFTLY  MURMURED     ...  26 

"THE  CROWD  BEGAN  TO  HUSTLE  HIM  ACROSS  THE  ROOM"  34 

''BELLS    WERE    PEALING    IN    ALL    DIRECTIONS"          ...  38 

"THE  GOBLIN  TURNED  HIS  TELESCOPE  TOWARD  HIM"        .  41 

MOTHER  HUBBARD  SINGS  A  SONG  ......  45 

STANDING  ON  HIS  HEAD  ........  47 

"CAREERING    ON    A    GOAT  "  .  .....  48 

"JUST    LISTEN    TO    THIS  "    ........  55 

•'COCKALORUM    HEMMED    IN    BY    A    RING    OP    PITCHFORKS  "     .  61 

"'VENISON  IS  DEER,  ISN'T  IT?'    SAID    DAVY,  LOOKING    UP 

AT  THE  SIGN"    .........  65 

utHow    MANY    WATCHES    DO    YOU    WANT?'    SAID    SHAM- 

SHAM,    IN    A    PEEVISH    VOICE"    ......  69 


10  ILLUSTRATIONS. 

PAGI 

"SHAM-SHAM,   EXCLAIMING,    4  DON'T   TELL  MB  A  WATCHED 

POT    NEVER    BOILS!'    BEGAN    FIRING    AT   THE   WATCHES"  75 

THE  COCKALORUM  is  ILL 77 

**THE   SAVAGE  WAS   SITTING   IN   THE   SHADE   OF  ONE  OF 

THE  DUSTERS'*           .                                       ...  85 

•*HE    PLAYED    HOP-SCOTCH    WITH    THE    STARBOARD    WATCH"  91 

*HE  GAVE  ONE  HAND  TO  DAVY  AND  THE  OTHER  TO  THE 

GOBLIN"      ..........  94 

«*JUST    HOLD    MY    BASKET,    LIKE    A    GOOD    CHILD"  ...  97 

""THE   CABMAN   HAD   CLIMBED    UP    ON   THE   TOP   OF   THE 

CAB  AND  WAS  THROWING  STONES  AT  THE  HORSE"    .  101 

M  ROBINSON  REMARKED,  «  HE  HAS  LEFT  our  THE  GREATEST 

LOT    OF    COMICAL    THINGS'" 114 

44  IF   THE    ROADS    ARE   WET   AND    MUDDY,  WE   REMAIN   AT 

HOME  AND  STUDY" 117 

"THE  COCKALORUM  CAREFULLY  INSPECTED  THE  MARKING"  126 
44  *  I'M  PRETTY  WELL,  I  THANK  YOU,'  SAID  DAVY"      .        .127 

444  I'M  AS  NIMBLE  AS  A  SIXPENCE,'  SAID  THE  WHALE"      .  131 

DAVY  ASSISTS  THE  OLD  SEA-DOG 137 

444 AVAST!'   SAYS  HE,  4 WE'LL  BEAR  AWAY'"        .       .       .140 

HE  PLAYED  WITH  DOLLS  AND  HUMMING-TOPS       .        .        .  141 

DAVY  FALLS  INTO  THE  ELASTIC  SPRING        .       ...  151 

44 4 FRECKLES,'  SAID  THE  GOBLIN,  IWHAT  TIME  is  IT?'"     .  154 

14  DAVY    FELT    MORALLY    CERTAIN    THERE    WAS    GOING    TO    BE 

A  SCENE" V       .       .  157 

TOE  END  OF  THE  BELIEVING  YOYAGB  .       .       .       .   '  161 


DAVY  AND  THE   GOBLIN; 

OR,    WHAT    FOLLOWED    READING    "ALICES    ADVENTURED 
IN    WONDERLAND." 


CHAPTER    I. 

HOW   THE   GOBLIN-    CAME. 

IT  happened  one  Christmas  eve,  when  Davy  was  about 
eight  years  old,  and  this  is  the  way  it  came  about. 

That  particular  Christmas  eve  was  a  snowy  one  and  a 
blowy  one,  and  one  generally  to  be  remembered.  In  the 
city,  where  Davy  lived,  the  storm  played  all  manner  of 
pranks,  swooping  down  upon  unwary  old  gentlemen  and 
turning  their  umbrellas  wrong  side  out,  and  sometimes 
blowing  their  hats  quite  out  of  sight;  and  as  for  the  old 
ladies  who  chanced  to  be  out  of  doors,  the  wind  came  upon 
them  suddenly  from  around  corners  and  blew  the  snow  into 
their  faces  and  twisted  their  petticoats  about  their  ankles, 
and  even  whirled  the  old  ladies  themselves  about  in  a  very 
painful  way.  And  in  the  country,  where  Davy  had  come 
to  pass  Christmas  with  his  dear  old  grandmother,  things  were 


12  DAVY    AND    THE    GOBLIN. 

not  much  better;  but  here  people  were  very  wise  about  the 
weather,  and  stayed  in-doors,  huddled  around  great  blazing 
wood  fires;  and  the  storm,  finding  no  live  game,  buried  up 
the  roads  and  the  fences,  and  such  small  fry  of  houses  as 
could  readily  be  put  out  of  sight,  and  howled  and  roared 
over  the  fields  and  through  the  trees  in  a  fashion  not  to  be 
forgotten. 

Davy,  being  of  the  opinion  that  a  snow-storm  was  a  thing 
not  to  be  wasted,  had  been  out  with  his  sled,  trying  to  have 
a  little  fun  with  the  weather;  but  presently,  discovering 
that  this  particular  storm  was  not  friendly  to  little  boys,  he 
had  retreated  into  the  house,  and  having  put  his  hat  and  his 
high  shoes  and  his  mittens  by  the  kitchen  fire  to  dry,  he 
began  to  find  his  time  hang  heavily  on  his  hands.  He  had 
wandered  idly  all  over  the  house,  and  had  tried  how  cold 
his  nose  could  be  made  by  holding  it  against  the  window- 
panes,  and,  I  am  sorry  to  say,  had  even  been  sliding  down 
the  balusters  and  teasing  the  cat;  and  at  last,  as  evening 
was  coming  on,  had  curled  himself  up  in  the  big  easy-chair 
facing  the  fire,  and  had  begun  to  read  once  more  about  the 
marvellous  things  that  happened  to  little  Alice  in  Wonder- 
land. Then,  as  it  grew  darker,  he  laid  aside  the  book  and 
eat  watching  the  blazing  logs  and  listening  to  the  solemn 
ticking  of  the  high  Dutch  clock  against  the  wall. 

Then  there  stole  in  at  the  door  a  delicious  odor  of  dinner 
cooking  downstairs,  —  an  odor  so  promising  as  to  roast 
chickens  and  baked  potatoes  and  gravy  and  pie  as  to  make 
any  little  boy's  mouth  water;  and  presently  Davy  began 


HOW    THE    GOBLIN    CAME.  13 

softly  telling  himself  what  he  would  choose  for  his  dinner. 
He  had  quite  finished  fancying  the  first  part  of  his  feast, 
and  was  just  coming,  in  his  mind,  to  an  extra  large  slice 
of  apple-pie  well  browned  (staring  meanwhile  very  hard  at 
one  of  the  brass  knobs  of  the  andirons  to  keep  his  thoughts 
from  wandering),  when  he  suddenly  discovered  a  little  man 
perched  upon  that  identical  knob,  and  smiling  at  him  with 
all  his  might. 

This  little  man  was  a  very  curious-looking  person  indeed. 
He  was  only  about  a  foot  high,  but  his  head  was  as  big  as  a 
cocoanut,  and  he  had  great,  bulging  eyes,  like  a  frog,  and  a 
ridiculous  turned-up  nose.  His  legs  were  as  slender  as 
spindles,  and  he  had  long  pointed  toes  to  his  shoes,  or  rather 
to  his  stockings,  or,  for  that  matter,  to  his  trousers,  —  for 
they  were  all  of  a  piece,  —  and  bright  scarlet  in  color,  as 
were  also  his  little  coat  and  his  high-pointed  hat  and  a  queer 
little  cloak  that  hung  over  his  shoulder.  His  mouth  was  so 
wide  that  when  he  smiled  it  seemed  to  go  quite  behind  his 
ears,  and  there  was  no  way  of  knowing  where  the  smile 
ended,  except  by  looking  at  it  from  behind,  which  Davy 
couldn't  do,  as  yet,  without  getting  into  the  fire. 

Now,  there's  no  use  in  denying  that  Davy  was  fright- 
ened. The  fact  is,  he  was  frightened  almost  out  of  his 
wits,  particularly  when  he  saw  that  the  little  man,  still 
smiling  furiously,  was  carefully  picking  the  hottest  and 
reddest  embers  out  of  the  fire,  and,  after  cracking  them 
like  nuts  with  his  teeth,  eating  them  with  great  relish. 
Davy  watched  this  alarming  meal,  expecting  every  moment 


14  DAVY    AND     THE    GOBLIN 

to  see  the  little  man  burst  into  a  blaze  and  disappear; 
but  he  finistied  his  coals  in  safety,  and  then,  nodding 
cheerfully  at  Davy,  said:  — 

"I   know  you!" 

"Do  you?"    said  Davy,   faintly. 

"Oh,  yes!"  said  the  little  man.  WI  know  you  per- 
fectly well.  You  are  the  little  boy  who  doesn't  believe 
in  fairies,  nor  in  giants,  nor  in  goblins,  nor  in  anything 
the  story-books  tell  you." 

Now  the  truth  was  that  Davy,  having  never  met  any 
giants  when  he  was  out  walking,  nor  seen  any  fairies 
peeping  out  of  the  bushes  in  the  garden,  nor  found  any 
goblins  sitting  on  the  bedposts  about  the  house,  had  come 
to  believe  that  all  these  kinds  of  people  were  purely  im- 
aginary beings,  so  that  now  he  could  do  nothing  but 
stare  at  the  little  man  in  a  shamefaced  sort  of  way  and 
wonder  what  was  coming  next. 

"Now,  all  that,  "  said  the  little  man,  shaking  his  finger 
at  him  in  a  reproving  way,  — "  all  that  is  very  foolish 
and  very  wrong.  I'm  a  goblin  myself,  —  a  hobgoblin,  — 
and  I've  come  to  take  you  on  a  Believing  Yoyage." 

"Oh,  if  you  please,  I  can't  go!"  cried  Davy,  in  great 
alarm  at  this  proposal;  "I  can't,  indeed.  I  haven't  per- 
mission." 

"Kubbish!"    said   the   Goblin.      "Ask  the   Colonel." 

Now,  the  Colonel  was  nothing  more  nor  less  than  a 
silly-looking  little  man,  made  of  lead,  that  stood  on  the 
mantel-shelf  holding  a  clock  in  his  arms.  The  clock  never 


HOW    THE    GOBLIN    CAME.  15 

went,  but,  for  that  matter,  the  Colonel  never  went  either, 
for  he  had  been  standing  stock-still  for  years,  and  it 
seemed  perfectly  ridiculous  to  ask  him  anything  about 
going  anywhere,  so  Davy  felt  quite  safe  in  looking  up 
at  him  and  asking  permission  to  go  on  the  Believing 
Voyage.  To  his  dismay  the  Colonel  nodded  his  head, 
and  cried  out,  in  a  little,  cracked  voice:  — 

"Why,   certainly!" 

At  this  the  Goblin  jumped  down  off  the  knob  of  the 
andiron,  and  skipping  briskly  across  the  room  to  the  big 
Dutch  clock,  rapped  sharply  on  the  front  of  the  case 
with  his  knuckles,  when,  to  Davy's  amazement,  the  great 
thing  fell  over  on  its  face  upon  the  floor  as  softly  as 
if  it  had  been  a  feather-bed.  Davy  now  saw  that,  instead 
of  being  full  of  weights  and  brass  wheels  and  curious 
works,  as  he  had  always  supposed,  the  clock  was  really 
a  sort  of  boat,  with  a  wide  seat  at  each  end;  but,  before 
he  had  time  to  make  any  further  discoveries,  the  Goblin, 
who  had  vanished  for  a  moment,  suddenly  reappeared, 
carrying  two  large  sponge-cakes  in  his  arms.  Now,  Davy 
was  perfectly  sure  that  he  had  seen  his  grandmother  put- 
ting those  very  sponge-cakes  into  the  oven  to  bake,  but 
before  he  could  utter  a  word  of  remonstrance  the  Goblin 
clapped  one  into  each  seat,  and  scrambling  into  the  clock 
sat  down  upon  the  smaller  one,  merely  remarking:  — 

"They  make  prime  cushions,  you  know,  and  we  ran 
eat  'em  afterwards." 

For    a   moment  Davy   had   a   wild    idea   of  rushing    out 


16  DAVY    AND     THE    GOBLIN. 

of  the  room  and  calling  for  help;  but  the  Goblin  seemed 
so  pleased  with  the  arrangements  he  had  made,  and, 
moreover,  was  smiling  so  good-naturedly,  that  the  little 
boy  thought  better  of  it,  and,  after  a  moment's  hesitation, 
climbed  into  the  clock  and  took  his  seat  upon  the  other 
cake.  It  was  as  warm  and  springy,  and  smelt  as  deli- 
ciously,  as  a  morning  hi  May.  Then  there  was  a  whizz- 
ing sound,  like  a  lot  of  wheels  spinning  around,  and 
the  clock  rose  from  the  floor  and  made  a  great  swoop 
toward  the  window. 

"I'll  steer,"  shouted  the  Goblin,  "and  do  you  look 
out  sharp  for  cats  and  dogs,"  and  Davy  had  just  time 
to  notice  that  the  Colonel  was  hastily  scrambling  down 
from  the  mantel-shelf  with  his  beloved  timepiece  in  his 
arms,  when  they,  seated  in  the  long  Dutch  clock,  dashed 
through  the  window  and  out  into  the  night. 


BEGINNING     THE     VOYAGE.  19 

CHAPTER  H. 

THE    BEGINNING    OF    THE    BELIEVING    VOYAGE. 

THE  first  thought  that  came  into  Davy's  mind  when 
he  found  himself  out-of-doors  was  that  he  had  started 
off  on  his  journey  without  his  hat,  and  he  was  therefore 
exceedingly  pleased  to  find  that  it  had  stopped  snowing 
and  that  the  air  was  quite  still  and  delightfully  balmy 
and  soft.  The  moon  was  shining  brightly,  and  as  he 
looked  back  at  the  house  he  was  surprised  to  see  that 
the  window  through  which  they  had  come,  and  which  he 
was  quite  sure  had  always  been  a  straight-up-and-down, 
old-fashioned  window,  was  now  a  round  affair,  with  flaps 
running  to  a  point  in  the  centre,  like  the  holes  the 
harlequin  jumps  through  in  the  pantomime. 

"How  did  that  window  ever  get  changed  into  a  round 
hole?"  he  asked  the  Goblin,  pointing  to  it  in  great 
astonishment. 

"Oh,"  said  the  Goblin,  carelessly,  w  that's  one  of  the 
circular  singumstances  that  happen  on  a  Believing 
Voyage.  It's  nothing  to  what  you'll  see  before  we  come 
back  again.  Ah!"  he  added,  "there  comes  the  Colonel!'' 

Sure  enough,  at  this  moment  the  Colonel's  head  ap- 
peared through  the  flaps.  The  clock  was  still  in  his 
armg,  and  he  seemed  to  be  having  a  great  deal  of 


20 


DAVY    AND     THE    GOBLIN. 


trouble  in  getting  it  through,  and  his  head  kept  coming 
into  view  and  then  disappearing  again  behind  the  flaps  in 
so  ridiculous  a  manner  that  Davy  shouted  with  laughter, 
and  the  Goblin  smiled  harder  than  ever.  Suddenly 

the  poor  little  man  made 
a  desperate  plunge,  and 
had  almost  made  his  way 
out  when  the  flaps  shut 
to  with  a  loud  snap  and 
caught  him  about  the 
waist.  In  his  efforts  to 
free  himself  he  dropped 
his  clock  to  the  ground 
outside,  when  it  burst 
with  a  loud  explosion, 
and  the  house  instantly 
-«**.>„  ^  disappeared. 
1^\)^>,  This  was  so  unex- 

^C^  pected,  and  seemed  so 
serious  a  matter,  that 
Davy  was  much  dis- 
tressed, wondering  what  had  become  of  his  dear  old  grand- 
mother, and  Mrs.  Frump,  the  cook,  and  Mary  Farina,  the 
housemaid,  and  Solomon,  the  cat.  However,  before  he  had 
time  to  make  any  inquiries  of  the  Goblin,  his  grandmother 
came  dropping  down  through  the  air  in  her  rocking- 
chair.  She  was  quietly  knitting,  and  her  chair  was  gently 
rocking  as  she  went  by.  Next  came  Mrs.  Frump,  with 


"KBIT  CAME  MART  FARINA." 


BEGINNING     THE     VOYAGE. 


21 


her  apron   quite   full   of  kettles   and  pots,  and  then  Mary 
Farina,   sitting    on   a   step-ladder    with    the    coal-scuttle    in 
her  lap.     Solomon   was   nowhere  to  be  seen.     Davy,  look- 
ing  over  the   side  of  the   clock,  saw  them   disappear,   one 
after    the    other,    in    a    large   tree    on    the    lawn,   and    the 
Goblin  informed   him 
that    they   had   fallen 
into  the  kitchen  of  a 
witch-hazel   tree,  and 
would   be  well  taken 
care   of.      Indeed,   as 
the  clock  sailed  over 
the    tree,   Davy    saw 
that    the   trunk   of  it 
was  hollow,  and  that  a 
bright  light  was  shin- 
ing far  underground; 
and,  to  make  the  mat- 
ter quite  sure,  a  smell 
of  cooking  was  com- 
ing up  through  the  hole.     On    one  of   the  topmost  boughs 
of  the  tree   was   a  nest  with   two   sparrows  in  it,  and  he 
was   much   astonished   at  discovering  that  they  were  lying 
side    by  side,  fast   asleep,  with   one  of  his    mittens    spread 
over  them   for  a   coverlet.     I  am   sorry  to   say  that   Davy 
knew   perfectly  well  where   the  other  mitten  was,  and  was 
ashamed  to   say   anything   about   it. 
WI  suppose    my  shoes    are    somewhere   about,"    he   said. 


THE  RABBIT  TAKES    LIBERTIES    WITH  DAVYS    PROPERTY. 


22  DAVY    AND     THE    GOBLIN. 

Badly.      "Perhaps    the     squirrels     are     filling     them    with 
nuts." 

" You're  quite  right,"  replied  the  Goblin,  cheerfully;  "and 
there's  a  rabbit  over  by  the  hedge  putting  dried  leaves  into 
your  hat.  I  rather  fancy  he's  about  moving  into  it  for  the 
winter." 

Da/y  was  about  to  complain  against  such  liberties  being 
taken  with  his  property,  when  the  clock  began  rolling 
over  in  the  air,  and  he  had  just  time  to  grasp  the  sides 
of  it  to  keep  himself  from  falling  out. 

"Don't  be  afraid!"  cried  the  Goblin,  "she's  only  rolling 
a  little;"  and,  as  he  said  this,  the  clock  steadied  itself  and 
sailed  serenely  away  past  the  spire  of  the  village  church 
and  off  over  the  fields. 

Davy  now  noticed  that  the  Goblin  was  glowing  with 
a  bright,  rosy  light,  as  though  a  number  of  candles  were 
burning  in  his  stomach  and  shining  out  through  his  scarlet 
clothes. 

"That's  the  coals  he  had  for  his  supper,"  thought  Davy; 
but,  as  the  Goblin  continued  to  smile  complacently  and 
seemed  to  be  feeling  quite  comfortable,  he  did  not 
venture  to  ask  any  questions,  and  went  on  with  his 
thoughts.  "  I  suppose  he'll  soon  have  smoke  coming  out  of 
his  nose,  as  if  he  were  a  stove.  If  it  were  a  cold  night 
I'd  ask  him  to  come  and  sit  in  my  lap.  I  think  he  must  be 
as  warm  as  a  piece  of  toast;"  and  the  little  boy  was  laugh- 
ing softly  to  himself  over  this  conceit,  when  the  Goblin, 
who  had  been  staring  intently  at  the  sky,  suddenly  ducked 


BEGINNING     THE     VOYAGE.  23 

his  head,  and  cried  "  Squalls !  "  and  the  next  moment  the 
air  was  filled  with  cats  falling  in  a  perfect  shower  from 
the  sky.  They  were  of  all  sizes  and  colors,  —  big  cats, 
little  cats,  black  cats,  white  cats,  gray  cats,  yeJow,  spotted 
and  brindle  cats,  and  at  least  a  dozen  of  them  fell  sprawl- 
ing into  the  clock.  Among  them,  to  Davy's  dismay,  was 
Solomon,  with  the  other  mitten  drawn  over  his  head  and 
the  thumb  sticking  straight  up  like  a  horn.  This  gave 
him  a  very  extraordinary  appearance,  and  the  other  cats 
evidently  regarded  him  with  the  gravest  distrust  as  they 
clustered  together  at  Davy's  end  of  the  clock,  leaving 
Solomon  standing  quite  alone,  and  complaining  in  a  muffled 
voice  as  he  tugged  frantically  at  the  mitten. 

"Don't   scold   so  much!"   said  the   Goblin,   impatiently. 

Now,  Davy  would  never  have  teased  Solomon  if  he 
had  had  the  slightest  idea  that  cats  could  talk,  and  he 
was  dreadfully  mortified  when  Solomon  cried  out  excit- 
edly, "Scold!  I  should  think  I  had  enough  to  scold 
about  to-day!  I've  had  bits  of  worsted  tied  on  to  my 
tail,  and  I've  had  some  milk  with  pepper  in  it,  and  I've 
had  pill-boxes  stuck  on  to  my  feet,  so  that  I  fell  heels 
over  head  downstairs  —  let  alone  having  this  nightcap  on ! " 

All  this  was  certainly  enough  to  scold  about;  but  what 
else  Solomon  had  to  complain  of  will  never  be  known, 
for,  at  this  moment,  an  old  tabby  cat  screamed  out, 
"  Barkers !  "  and  all  the  cats  sprang  over  the  side  of  the 
clock,  and  disappeared,  with  Solomon  bringing  up  the 
rear,  like  a  little  unicorn. 


24  DAVY    AND     THE    GOBLIN. 

"I  think  it  sounds  very  ridiculous  for  a  cat  to  talk  in 
that  way,"  said  Davy,  uneasily. 

"Yes;  but  it  sounds  very  true,  for  all  that,"  said  the 
Goblin,  gravely. 

"But  it  was  such  fun,  you  know,"  said  Davy,  feeling 
that  he  was  blushing  violently. 

"Oh,  I  dare  say!  Fun  for  you"  said  the  Goblin,  sar- 
castically. "Jolligong!  Here  come  the  Barkers  1"  he 
added,  and,  as  he  said  this,  a  shower  of  little  blue  woolly 
balls  came  tumbling  into  the  clock.  To  Davy's  alarm 
they  proved  to  be  alive,  and  immediately  began  scrambling 
about  in  all  directions,  and  yelping  so  ferociously  that  he 
climbed  up  on  his  cake  in  dismay,  while  the  Goblin, 
hastily  pulling  a  large  magnifying-glass  out  of  his  hat, 
began  attentively  examining  these  strange  visitors. 

"  Bless  me ! "  cried  the  Goblin,  turning  very  pale, 
"they're  sky-terriers.  The  dog-star  must  have  turned 
upside-down." 

"What  shall  we  do?"  said  Davy,  feeling  that  this  was 
a  very  bad  state  of  affairs. 

"The  first  thing  to  do,"  said  the  Goblin,  "is  to  get 
away  from  these  fellows  before  the  solar  sisters  come 
after  them.  Here,  jump  into  my  hat." 

So  many  wonderful  things  had  happened  already  that 
this  seemed  to  Davy  quite  a  natural  and  proper  thing  to 
do,  and  as  the  Goblin  had  already  seated  himself  upon 
the  brim,  he  took  his  place  opposite  to  him  without  hesi- 
tation. As  they  sailed  away  from  the  clock  it  quietly 


BEGINNING     THE     VOYAGE.  25 

rolled  over  once,  spilling  out  the  sponge-cakes  and  all 
the  little  dogs,  and  was  then  wafted  off,  gently  rocking 
from  side  to  side  as  it  went. 

Davy  was  much  surprised  at  finding  that  the  hat  was 
as  large  as  a  clothes-hamper,  with  plenty  of  room  for 
him  to  swing  his  legs  about  in  the  crown.  It  proved, 
however,  to  be  a  very  unpleasant  thing  to  travel  in.  It 
spun  around  like  a  top  as  it  sailed  through  the  air, 
until  Davy  began  to  feel  uncomfortably  dizzy,  and  the 
Goblin  himself  seemed  to  be  far  from  well.  He  had 
stopped  smiling,  and  the  rosy  light  had  all  faded  away, 
as  though  the  candles  inside  of  him  had  gone  out.  His 
clothes,  too,  had  changed  from  bright  scarlet  to  a  dull 
ashen  color,  and  he  sat  stupidly  upon  the  brim  of  the 
hat  as  if  he  were  going  to  sleep. 

"If  he  goes  to  sleep  he  will  certainly  fall  overboard," 
thought  Davy;  and,  with  a  view  to  rousing  the  Goblin, 
he  ventured  to  remark,  "I  had  no  idea  your  hat  was 
so  big." 

"I  can  make  it  any  size  I  please,  from  a  thimble  to 
a  sentry-box,"  said  the  Goblin.  "  And,  speaking  of  sentry- 
boxes  "  —  here  he  stopped  and  looked  more  stupid  than  ever. 

WI  verily  believe  he's  absent-minded,"  said  Davy  to 
nimself. 

"I'm  worse  than  that,"  said  the  Goblin,  as  if  Davy 
had  spoken  aloud.  "I'm  absent-bodied;"  and  with  these 
words  he  fell  out  of  the  hat  and  instantly  disappeared. 
Davy  peered  anxiously  over  the  edge  of  the  brim;  but 


DAVY    AND     THE    GOBLIN. 


the  Goblin  was  nowhere  to  be  seen,  and  the  little  boy 
found  himself  quite  alone. 

Strange-looking  birds  now  began  to  swoop  up  and 
chuckle  at  him,  and  others  flew  around  him,  as  the  hat 
spun  along  through  the  air,  gravely  staring  him  in  the 
face  for  a  while,  and  then  sailed  away,  sadly  bleating 

like  sheep.  Then  a  great 
creature,  with  rumpled 
feathers,  perched  upon 
the  brim  of  the  hat  where 
the  Goblin  had  been  sit- 
ting, and,  after  solemnly 
gazing  at  him  for  a  few 
moments,  softly  mur- 
mured, "I'm  a  Cockalo- 
rum," and  flew  heavily 
away.  All  this  was  very 
sad  and  distressing,  and 
Davy  was  mournfully 

«•  I'M   A    COCKALORUM,"     HE      SOFTLY     MURMURED.  J  J 

wondering    what   would 

happen  to  him  next,  when  it  suddenly  struck  him  that 
his  legs  were  feeling  very  cold,  and,  looking  down  at 
them,  he  discovered,  to  his  great  alarm,  that  the  crown  of 
the  Goblin's  hat  had  entirely  disappeared,  leaving  nothing 
but  the  brim,  upon  which  he  was  sitting.  He  hurriedly 
examined  this,  and  found  the  hat  was  really  nothing  but 
an  enormous  skein  of  wool,  which  was  rapidly  unwinding 
as  it  spun  along.  Indeed,  the  brim  was  disappearing  at 


BEGINNING     THE     VOYAGE.  27 

Buch  a  rate  that  he  had  hardly  made  this  alarming 
discovery  before  the  end  of  the  skein  was  whisked  away, 
and  he  found  himself  falling  through  the  air. 

He  was  on  the  point  of  screaming  out  in  his  terror, 
when  he  discovered  that  he  was  falling  very  slowly  and 
gently  swaying  fr  >m  to  side  to  side,  like  a  toy-balloon. 
The  next  moment  he  struck  something  hard,  which  gave 
way  with  a  sound  like  breaking  glass  and  let  him  through, 
and  he  had  just  time  to  notice  that  the  air  had  suddenly 
become  deliciously  scented  with  vanilla,  when  he  fell  crash- 
ing into  the  branches  of  a  large  tree. 


•28  DAVY    AND     THE    GOBLIN. 

CHAPTER    in. 

IN    THE    SUGAR-PLUM    GARDEN. 

THE  bough  upon  which  Davy  had  fallen  bent  far 
down  with  his  weight,  then  sprang  back,  then  bent  again, 
and  in  this  way  fell  into  a  sort  of  delightful  up-and- 
down  dipping  motion,  which  he  found  very  soothing  and 
agreeable.  Indeed,  he  was  so  pleased  and  comforted  at 
finding  himself  near  the  ground  once  more  that  he  lay 
back  in  a  crotch  botween  two  branches,  enjoying  the  rock- 
ing of  the  bough,  and  lazily  wondering  what  had  become 
of  the  Goblin,  and  whether  this  was  the  end  of  the  Be- 
lieving Voyage,  nnd  a  great  many  other  things,  until 
he  chanced  to  wmder  where  he  was.  Then  he  sat  up 
on  the  branch  iu  great  astonishment,  for  he  saw  that 
the  tree  was  in  full  leaf  and  loaded  with  plums,  and  it 
flashed  across  bis  mind  that  the  winter  had  disappeared 
very  suddenly,  and  that  he  had  fallen  into  a  place  where 
it  was  broad  viaylight. 

The  plum-tree  was  the  most  beautiful  and  wonderful 
thing  he  had  ever  seen,  for  the  leaves  were  perfectly 
white,  and  th«e  plums,  which  looked  extremely  delicious, 
were  of  every  imaginable  color. 

Now,  it  immediately  occurred  to  Davy  that  he  had 
never  in  his  whole  life  had  all  the  plums  he  wanted  at 


JN    THE    SUGAR-PLUM    GARDEN.  29 

any  one  time.  Here  was  a  rare  chance  for  a  feast, 
and  he  carefully  selected  the  largest  and  most  luscious- 
looking  plum  he  could  find,  to  begin  with.  To  his 
disappointment  it  proved  to  be  quite  hard,  and  as  solid 
and  heavy  as  a  stone.  He  was  looking  at  it  in  great 
perplexity,  and  punching  it  with  his  thumbs  in  the  hope 
of  finding  a  soft  place  in  it,  when  he  heard  a  rustling 
sound  among  the  leaves,  and,  looking  up,  he  saw  the 
Cockalorum  perched  upon  the  bough  beside  him.  He 
was  gazing  sadly  at  the  plum,  and  his  feathers  were 
more  rumpled  than  ever.  Presently  he  gave  a  long 
sigh  and  said,  in  his  low,  murmuring  voice,  "Perhaps 
it's  a  sugar-plum,"  and  then  flew  clumsily  away  as 
before. 

w  Perhaps  it  is ! "  exclaimed  Davy,  joyfully,  taking  a 
great  bite  of  the  plum.  To  his  surprise  and  disgust 
he  found  his  mouth  full  of  very  bad-tasting  soap,  and 
at  the  same  moment  the  white  leaves  of  the  plum-tree 
suddenly  turned  over  and  showed  the  words  "APRIL 
FOOL"  printed  very  distinctly  on  then-  under  sides.  To 
make  the  matter  worse,  the  Cockalorum  came  back  and 
flew  slowly  around  the  branches,  laughing  softly  to 
himself  with  a  sort  of  a  chuckling  sound,  until  Davy, 
almost  crying  with  disappointment  and  mortification, 
scrambled  down  from  the  tree  to  the  ground. 

He  found  himself  in  a  large  garden  planted  with  plum- 
trees,  like  the  one  he  had  fallen  into,  and  with  walks 
winding  about  among  them  in  every  direction.  These  walks 


30  DAVY    AND     THE    GOBLIN. 

were  beautifully  paved  with  sugar-almonds  and  bordered 
by  long  rows  of  many-colored  motto-papers  neatly  planted 
in  the  ground.  He  was  too  much  distressed,  however, 
by  what  had  happened  in  the  plum-tree  to  be  interested 
or  pleased  with  this  discovery,  and  was  about  walking 
away,  along  one  of  the  paths,  in  the  hope  of  finding  his 
way  out  of  the  garden,  when  he  suddenly  caught  sight 
of  a  small  figure  standing  a  little  distance  from  him. 

He  was  the  strangest-looking  creature  Davy  had  ever 
seen,  not  even  excepting  the  Goblin.  In  the  first  place  he 
was  as  flat  as  a  pancake,  and  about  as  thick  as  one; 
and,  in  the  second  place,  he  was  so  transparent  that 
Davy  could  see  through  his  head  and  his  arms  and  his 
legs  almost  as  clearly  as  though  he  had  been  made  of 
glass.  This  was  so  surprising  in  itself  that  when  Davy 
presently  discovered  that  he  was  made  of  beai.tiful,  clear 
lemon  candy,  it  seemed  the  most  natural  thing  in  the 
world,  as  explaining  his  transparency.  He  was  neatly 
dressed  in  a  sort  of  tunic  of  writing-paper,  with  a 
cocked  hat  of  the  same  material,  and  he  had  under  his 
arm  a  large  book,  with  the  words  "HOLE-KEEPER'S 
VACUUM"  printed  on  the  cover.  This  curious-looking 
creature  was  standing  before  an  extremely  high  wall, 
with  his  back  to  Davy,  intently  watching  a  large  hole 
in  the  wall  about  a  foot  from  the  ground.  There  was 
nothing  extraordinary  about  the  appearance  of  the  hole 
(except  that  the  lower  edge  of  it  was  curiously  tied  in 
a,  large  bow-knot,  like  a  cravat) ;  but  Davy  watched  it 


IN    THE    SUGAR-PLUM    GARDEN.  $\ 

carefully  for  a  few  moments,  thinking  that  perhaps  some- 
thing marvellous  would  come  out  of  it.  Nothing  appeared, 
however,  and  Davy,  walking  up  close  behind  the  candy 
man,  said  very  politely,  "If  you  please,  sir,  I  dropped 
in  here"  — 

Before  he  could  finish  the  sentence  the  Hole-keeper  said 
snappishly,  "Well,  drop  out  again — quick!" 

"  But,"  pleaded  Davy,  "  you  can't  drop  out  of  a  place, 
you  know,  unless  the  place  should  happen  to  turn  upside 
down." 

vs  I  don't  know  anything  about  it,"  replied  the  Hole- 
keeper,  without  moving.  "I  never  saw  anything  drop 
—  except  once.  Then  I  saw  a  gum-drop.  Are  you  a 
gum?"  he  added,  suddenly  turning  around  and  staring  at 
Davy. 

"Of  course  I'm  not,"  said  Davy,  indignantly.  "If  you'll 
only  listen  to  me  you'll  understand  exactly  how  it  hap- 
pened." 

"  Well,  go  on,"  said  the  Hole-keeper,  impatiently,  "  and 
don't  be  tiresome." 

"I  fell  down  ever  so  far,"  said  Davy,  beginning  his 
story  over  again,  "  and  at  last  I  broke  through  some- 
thing"— 

"  That  was  the  skylight ! r  shrieked  the  Hole-keeper, 
dashing  his  book  upon  the  ground  in  a  fury.  "That 
was  the  barley-sugar  skylight,  and  I  shall  certainly  be 
boiled!" 

This  was  such  a  shocking  idea  that  Davy  stood  speech- 


32  DAVY    AND     THE    GOBLIN. 

less,  staring  at  the  Hole-keeper,  who  rushed  to  and  fro 
in  a  convulsion  of  distress. 

"Now,  see  here,"  said  the  Hole-keeper,  at  length,  com- 
ing up  to  him  and  speaking  in  a  low,  trembling  voice. 
"  This  must  be  a  private  secret  between  us.  Do  you 
solemsy  promilse?" 

"I  prolemse,"  said  Davy,  earnestly.  This  wasn't  at  all 
what  he  meant  to  say,  and  it  sounded  very  ridiculous; 
but  somehow  the  words  wouldn't  come  straight.  The 
Hole-keeper,  however,  seemed  perfectly  satisfied,  and,  pick- 
ing up  his  book,  said,  "Well,  just  wait  till  I  can't 
find  your  name,"  and  began  hurriedly  turning  over  the 
leaves. 

Davy  saw,  to  his  astonishment,  that  there  was  nothing 
whatever  in  the  book,  all  the  leaves  being  perfectly  blank, 
and  he  couldn't  help  saying,  rather  contemptuously:  — 

"How  do  you  expect  to  find  my  name  in  that  book? 
There's  nothing  in  it." 

"Ah!  that's  just  it,  you  see,"  said  the  Hole-keeper,  ex- 
ultingly;  "I  look  in  it  for  the  names  that  ought  to  be 
out  of  it.  It's  the  completest  system  that  ever  was  in- 
vented. Oh !  here  you  aren't ! "  he  added,  staring  with 
great  satisfaction  at  one  of  the  blank  pages.  "Your 
name  is  Rupsy  Frimbles." 

"It's  nothing   of  the   sort,"   said  Davy,  indignantly. 

"Tut!  Tut!"  said  the  Hole-keeper.  "Don't  stop  to 
contradict  or  you'll  be  too  late;"  and  Davy  felt  himself 
gently  lifted  off  his  feet  and  pushed  head-foremost  into  the 


IN    THE    SUGAR-PLUM    GARDEN.  33 

hole.  It  was  quite  dark  and  rather  sticky,  and  smelt 
strongly  of  burnt  sugar,  and  Davy  had  a  most  unpleasant 
time  of  it  crawling  through  on  his  hands  and  knees.  To 
add  to  his  distress,  when  he  came  out  at  the  farther  end, 
instead  of  being,  as  he  had  hoped,  in  the  open  country,  he 
found  himself  in  a  large  room,  with  a  lofty  ceiling,  through 
which  a  brilliant  light  was  mysteriously  shining.  The  floor 
was  of  tin,  and  greased  to  such  a  slippery  degree  that 
Davy  could  hardly  keep  his  feet,  and  against  the  walls  on 
all  sides  were  ranged  long  rows  of  little  tin  chairs  glisten- 
ing like  silver  in  the  dazzling  light. 

The  only  person  in  the  room  was  a  little  man,  something 
like  the  Hole-keeper  in  appearance,  but  denser  and  darker 
in  the  way  of  complexion,  and  dressed  in  a  brown  paper 
tunic  and  cocked  hat. 

This  little  creature  was  carrying  a  pail,  and  apparently 
varnishing  the  chairs  with  a  little  swab  as  he  moved 
swiftly  about  the  room;  and,  as  he  came  nearer,  Davy  de- 
termined to  speak  to  him. 

w  If  you  please,"  he  began. 

The  little  man  jumped  back  apparently  in  the  greatest 
alarm,  and,  after  a  startled  look  at  Davy,  shuffled  rapidly 
away  and  disappeared  through  a  door  at  the  further  end  of 
the  room.  The  next  moment  a  confused  sound  of  harsh 
voices  came  through  the  door,  and  the  little  man  reappeared, 
followed  by  a  perfect  swarm  of  creatures  so  exactly  like 
himself  that  it  seemed  to  Davy  as  if  a  thousand  of  him  had 
come  back.  At  this  moment  a  voice  called  out,  w  Bring 


34  DAVY    AND     THE    GOBLIN. 

Frungles  this  way;"  and  the  crowd  gathered  around  him 
and  began  to  rudely  hustle  him  across  the  room. 

"That's  not  my  name!"  cried  Davy,  struggling  des- 
perately to  free  himself.  "It  isn't  even  the  name  I  came 
in  with!" 

"Tut!    Tut!"    said    a    trembling    voice    near  him;    and 


"THE  CROWD  BEGAN  TO  HUSTLE  HIM  ACROSS  THE  ROOM." 

Davy  caught  sight  of  the  Hole-keeper,  also  struggling 
in  the  midst  of  the  crowd,  with  his  great  book  hugged 
tightly  to  his  breast. 

"  What  does  it  all  mean?"  said  Davy,   anxiously. 

"It  means  that  we  are  to  be  taken  before  the  king," 
said  the  Hole-keeper,  in  an  agitated  voice.  "Don't  say  a 
word  until  you  are  spoken  to,  and  then  keep  perfectly 


IN    THE    SUGAR-PLUM    GARDEN.  35 

still;"  and  the  next  moment  they  were  dragged  up  to  a 
low  platform,  where  the  king  was  sitting  on  a  gorgeous 
tin  throne.  He  was  precisely  like  the  rest  of  the 
creatures,  except  that  he  was  a  little  larger,  and  wore 
a  blue  paper  coat  and  a  sparkling  tin  crown,  and  held 
in  his  hand  a  long  white  wand,  with  red  lines  running 
screw-wise  around  it,  like  a  barber's  pole.  He  stared  at 
Davy  and  the  Hole-keeper  for  a  moment,  and  then  called 
out,  "Are  the  chairs  buttered?" 

"  They   are ! "   shouted  the   crowd,   like   one   man. 

"Then   sit   down!"   roared  the   king. 

The  crowd  shuffled  off  in  all  directions,  and  then 
engaged  in  a  confused  struggle  for  the  chairs.  They 
fought  desperately  for  a  few  moments,  tearing  each 
others'  shirts,  and  screaming  out  hoarse  little  squawks  of 
pain,  while  the  king  thumped  furiously  with  his  wand, 
and  the  Hole-keeper  trembled  like  a  leaf.  At  last  all 
were  seated  and  the  hubbub  ceased,  and  the  king,  frown- 
ing savagely  at  the  Hole-keeper,  exclaimed,  in  a  terrible 
voice,  "  Who  broke  the  barley-sugar  skylight? " 

The  Hole-keeper  began  fumbling  at  the  leaves  of  his 
book  in  great  agitation,  when  the  king,  pointing  at  him 
with  his  wand,  roared  furiously:  "Boil  him,  at  all 
events!" 

"Tut!  Tut!  your  majesty,"  began  the  Hole-keeper, 
confusedly,  with  his  stiff  little  tunic  fairly  rustling  with 
fright;  but  before  he  could  utter  another  word  he  was 
rushed  upon  and  dragged  away,  screaming  with  terror. 


36  DAVY    AND     THE    GOBLIN. 

w Don't  you  go  with  them!"  shouted  Davy,  made  really 
desperate  by  the  Hole-keeper's  danger.  "They're  nothing 
but  a  lot  of  molasses  candy ! " 

At  this  the  king  gave  a  frightful  shriek,  and,  aiming 
a  furious  blow  at  Davy  with  his  wand,  rolled  off  the 
platform  into  the  midst  of  the  struggling  crowd.  The 
wand  broke  into  a  hundred  pieces,  and  the  air  was 
instantly  filled  with  a  choking  odor  of  peppermint;  then 
everything  was  wrapped  in  darkness,  and  Davy  felt  him- 
self being  whirled  along,  heels  over  head,  through  the 
air.  Then  there  came  a  confused  sound  of  bells  and 
voices,  and  he  found  himself  running  rapidly  down  a 
long  street  with  the  Goblin  at  his  side. 


THE    BUTTERSCOTCHMEN.  37 

CHAPTEK  IV. 

THE    BUTTERSCOTCHMEN. 

BELLS  were  pealing  and  tolling  in  all  directions,  and  the 
air  was  filled  with  the  sound  of  distant  shouts  and  cries. 

"What  were   they?"   asked  Davy,  breathlessly. 

" Butterscotchmen,"  said  the  Goblin.  "You  see,  they 
always  butter  their  chairs  so  that  they  won't  stick  fast 
when  they  sit  down." 

"And  what  makes  you  that  color?"  said  Davy,  sud- 
denly noticing  that  the  Goblin  had  changed  his  color  to 
a  beautiful  blue. 

"Trouble  and  worry,"  said  the  Goblin.  "I  always  get 
blue  when  the  Butterscotchmen  are  after  me." 

"  Are  they  coming  after  us  now? "  inquired  Davy,  in 
great  alarm. 

"Of  course  they  are,"  said  the  Goblin.  "But  the 
best  of  it  is,  they  can't  run  till  they  get  warm,  and 
they  can't  get  warm  without  running,  you  see.  But 
the  worst  of  it  is  that  we  can't  stop  without  sticking 
fast,"  he  added,  anxiously.  "We  must  keep  it  up  until 
we  get  to  the  Amuserum." 

« What's  that?"   said  Davy. 

"It's  a  place  they  have  to  amuse  themselves  with," 
said  the  Goblin,  — "  curiosities,  and  all  that  sort  of  thing, 


38 


DAVY    AND     THE     GOBLIN. 


you  know.      By  the    way,  how  much    money  have    you? 
We  have  to   pay   to   get  in." 

Davy  began  to  feel  in  his  pockets  (which  is  a  very  diffi- 
cult thing  to  do  when  you're  running  fast),  and  found,  to 
his  astonishment,  that  they  were  completely  filled  with  a 


BELLS    WERE    PEALING    IN   ALL   DIRECTIONS. 


most  extraordinary  lot  of  rubbish.  First  he  pulled  out  what 
seemed  to  be  an  iron  ball;  but  it  proved  to  be  a  hard- 
boiled  egg,  without  the  shell,  stuck  full  of  small  tacks. 
Then  came  two  slices  of  toast,  firmly  tied  together  with 
a  green  cord.  Then  came  a  curious  little  glass  jar,  filled 
with  large  flies.  As  Davy  took  this  out  of  his  pocket, 
the  cork  came  out  with  a  loud  w  pop ! "  and  the  flies 
flew  away  in  all  directions.  Then  came,  one  after  another, 
a  tart  filled  with  gravel,  two  chicken -bones,  a  bird's 


THE    BUTTERSCOTCHMEN.  39 

nest  with  some  pieces  of  brown  soap  in  it,  some  mustard 
in  a  pill-box,  and  a  cake  of  beeswax  stuck  full  of  car- 
away seeds.  Davy  remembered  afterward  that,  as  he 
threw  these  things  away,  they  arranged  themselves  in  a 
long  row  on  the  curb-stone  of  the  street.  The  Goblin 
looked  on  with  great  interest  as  Davy  fished  them  up  out 
of  his  pockets,  and  finally  said,  enviously,  "That's  » 
splendid  collection;  where  did  they  all  come  from?" 

"  I'm  sure  /  don't  know,"  said  Davy,  in  great  bewilderment. 

"And  I'm  sure  /  don't  know,"  repeated  the  Goblin. 
"What  else  is  there?" 

Davy  felt  about  in  his  pockets  again,  and  found  what 
seemed  to  be  a  piece  of  money.  On  taking  it  out, 
however,  he  was  mortified  to  find  that  it  was  nothing 
but  an  old  button;  but  the  Goblin  exclaimed,  in  a  tone 
of  great  satisfaction,  "Ah!  hold  on  to  that!"  and  ran 
on  faster  than  ever. 

The  sound  of  the  distant  voices  had  grown  fainter 
and  fainter  still,  and  Davy  was  just  hoping  that  their 
long  run  was  almost  over,  when  the  street  came  abruptly 
to  an  end  at  a  brick  wall,  over  the  top  of  which  he 
could  see  the  branches  of  trees.  There  was  a  small 
round  hole  in  the  wall,  with  the  words  "  PAY  HERE  " 
printed  above  it,  and  the  Goblin  whispered  to  Davy 
to  hand  in  the  button  through  this  hole.  Davy  did  so, 
feeling  very  much  ashamed  of  himself,  when,  to  his  sur- 
prise, instead  of  receiving  tickets  in  return,  he  heard  a 
loud  exclamation  behind  the  wall,  followed  by  a  confused 


40  DAVY    AND     THE    GOBLIN. 

sound  of  scuffling,  and  the  hole  suddenly  disappeared. 
The  next  moment  a  little  bell  tinkled,  and  the  wall 
rose  slowly  before  them  like  a  curtain,  carrying  the 
trees  with  it  apparently,  and  he  and  the  Goblin  were 
left  standing  in  a  large  open  space  paved  with  stone. 
Davy  was  exceedingly  alarmed  at  seeing  a  dense  mass 
of  Butterscotchmen  in  the  centre  of  the  square,  pushing 
and  crowding  one  another  in  a  very  quarrelsome  manner, 
and  chattering  like  a  flock  of  magpies,  and  he  was  just 
about  to  propose  a  hasty  retreat,  when  a  figure  came 
hurrying  through  the  square,  carrying  on  a  pole  a  large 
placard,  bearing  the  words: — 

WJUST   RECEIVED  I 

THE   GREAT   FRUNGLES   THING! 

ON  EXHIBITION   IN   THE   PLUM-GARDEN!" 

At  the    sight  of  these  words   the   mob  set   up  a  terrific 
shout,  and  began  streaming  out  of  the  square  after  the  pole- 
bearer,   like    a  flock   of    sheep,  jostling    and   shoving    on 
another   as    they  went,  and   leaving  Davy  and   the   Gobli 
quite  alone. 

"  I  verily  believe  they're  gone  to  look  at  my  button,"  cried 
Davy,  beginning  to  laugh,  in  spite  of  his  fears.  "They 
called  me  Frungles,  you  know." 

"That's  rather  a  nice  name,"  said  the  Goblin,  who  had 
begun  smiling  again.  "  It's  better  than  Snubgraddle,  at  all 
events.  Let's  have  a  look  at  the  curiosities ; "  and  here 
he  walked  boldly  into  the  centre  of  the  square. 


THE    BUTTERSCOTCHMEN. 


41 


Davy  followed  close  at  his  heels,  and  found,  to  his 
astonishment  and  disappointment,  that  the  curiosities  were 
simply  the  things  that  he  had  fished  out  of  his  pockets  but 
a  few  minutes  before,  placed  on  little  pedestals  and  carefully 
protected  by  transparent  sugar  shades.  He  was  on  the 
point  of  laughing  outright  at  this  ridiculous  exhibition,  when 
he  saw  that 
the  Goblin 
had  taken  a 
large  tele- 
scope out  of 
his  pocket, 
and  was  ex- 
amining the 
different  ob- 
jects with  the 
closest  at- 
tention, and 

muttering  to   himself,   "Wonderful!   wonderful!"    as   if  he 
had   never   seen   anything  like   them   before. 

"Pooh!  "said  Davy,  contemptuously;  "the  only  wonder- 
ful thing  about  them  is,  how  they  ever  came  here" 

At  this  remark  the  Goblin  turned  his  telescope  toward 
Davy,  and  uttered  a  faint  cry  of  surprise;  and  Davy,  peering 
anxiously  through  the  large  end,  saw  him  suddenly  shrink 
to  the  size  of  a  small  beetle,  and  then  disappear  altogether. 
Davy  hastily  reached  out  with  his  hands  to  grasp  the  telescope, 
and  found  himself  staring  through  a  round  glass  window 
uito  a  farm-yard,  where  a  red  Cow  stood  gazing  up  at  him. 


"  THE     GOBLIN      TURNKD     HIS     TELESCOPE    TOWARD     HIM. 


42  DAVY    AND     THE    GOBLIN. 

CHAPTER    Y. 

JACK    AND    THE     BEAN-STALK'S    FARM. 

IT  was  quite  an  ordinary-looking  farm-yard  and  quite 
an  ordinary-looking  Cow,  but  she  stared  so  earnestly  up 
at  Davy  that  he  felt  positively  certain  she  had  something 
to  say  to  him.  "Every  creature  I  meet  does  have 
something  to  say,"  he  thought,  as  he  felt  about  for  the 
window-fastening,  "and  I  should  really  like  to  hear  a 
Cow"  —  and  just  at  this  moment  the  window  suddenly 
flew  open,  and  he  pitched  head-foremost  out  upon  a  pile 
of  hay  in  the  farm-yard,  and  rolled  from  it  off 
upon  the  ground.  As  he  sat  up,  feeling  exceedingly 
foolish,  he  looked  anxiously  at  the  Cow,  expecting  to  see 
her  laughing  at  his  misfortune,  but  she  stood  gazing  at 
him  with  a  very  serious  expression  of  countenance, 
solemnly  chewing,  and  slowly  swishing  her  tail  from  side 
to  side.  As  Davy  really  didn't  know  how  to  begin  a 
conversation  with  a  Cow,  he  waited  for  her  to  speak  first, 
and  there  was  consequently  a  long  pause.  Presently  the 
Cow  said,  in  a  melancholy,  lowing  tone  of  voice,  "The 
old  gray  goose  is  dead." 

"I'm  very  sorry,"  said  Davy,  not  knowing  what  else 
to  say. 

"She   is,"  said  the    Cow,   positively,   "and   we've    buried 


JACK    AND     THE    BEAN-STALK'S    FARM.  43 

her  in  the  vegetable  garden.  We  thought  gooseberries 
would  come  up,  but  they  didn't.  Nothing  came  up  but 
feathers." 

"  That's  very   curious,"   said   Davy. 

"Curious,  but  comfortable,"  replied  the  Cow.  "You  see, 
it  makes  a  feather-bed  in  the  garden.  The  pig  sleeps 
there,  and  calls  it  his  quill  pen.  Now  I  think  that  pig- 
pens should  be  made  of  porcupine  quills." 

"So  do  I,"  said  Davy,  laughing.  "What  else  is  there  in 
the  garden?" 

"Nothing  but  the  bean-stalk,"  said  the  Cow.  "You've 
heard  of  'Jack  and  the  Bean-stalk,'  haven't  you?" 

"Oh!  yes,  indeed!"  said  Davy,  beginning  to  be  very 
much  interested.  "I  should  like  to  see  the  bean-stalk." 

"  You  can't  see  the  beans  talk,"  said  the  Cow,  gravely. 
"You  might  hear  them  talk;  that  is,  if  they  had  any- 
thing to  say,  and  you  listened  long  enough.  By  the 
way,  that's  the  house  that  Jack  built.  Pretty,  isn't  it?" 

Davy  turned  and  looked  up  at  the  house.  It  certainly 
was  a  very  pretty  house,  built  of  bright  red  brick,  with 
little  gables,  and  dormer-windows  in  the  roof,  and  with 
a  trim  little  porch  quite  overgrown  with  climbing  roses. 
Suddenly  an  idea  struck  him,  and  he  exclaimed:  — 

"Then   you  must  be   the   Cow  with    a   crumpled   horn!" 

"It's  not  crumpled,"  said  the  Cow,  with  great  dignity. 
"There's  a  slight  crimp  in  it,  to  be  sure,  but  nothing 
that  can  properly  be  called  a  crump.  Then  the  story 
Was  all  wrong  about  my  tossing  the  dog.  It  was  the 


44  DAVY    AND     THE    GOBLIX. 

cat  that  ate  the  malt.  He  was  a  Maltese  cat,  and  his 
name  was  Flipmegilder." 

"Did  you  toss   him?"   inquired   Davy. 

"  Certainly  not,"  said  the  Cow,  indignantly.  "  Who 
ever  heard  of  a  cow  tossing  a  cat?  The  fact  is,  I've 
never  had  a  fair  chance  to  toss  anything.  As  for  the 
dog,  Mother  Hubbard  never  permitted  any  liberties  to  be 
taken  with  him" 

"I'd  dearly  love  to  see  Mother  Hubbard,"  said  Davy, 
eagerly. 

"Well,  you  can,"  said  the  Cow,  indifferently.  "She 
isn't  much  to  see.  If  you'll  look  in  at  the  kitchen 
window  you'll  probably  find  her  performing  on  the  piano 
and  singing  a  song.  She's  always  at  it." 

Davy  stole  softly  to  the  kitchen  window  and  peeped 
in,  and,  as  the  Cow  had  said,  Mother  Hubbard  was 
there,  sitting  at  the  piano,  and  evidently  just  preparing 
to  sing.  The  piano  was  very  remarkable,  and  Davy 
could  not  remember  ever  having  seen  one  like  it  before. 
The  top  of  it  was  arranged  with  shelves,  on  which  stood 
all  the  kitchen  crockery,  and  in  the  under  part  of  it, 
at  one  end,  was  an  oven  with  glass  doors,  through 
which  he  could  see  several  pies  baking. 

Mother  Hubbard  was  dressed,  just  as  he  expected,  in 
a  very  ornamental  flowered  gown,  with  high-heeled  shoes 
and  buckles,  and  wore  a  tall  pointed  hat  over  her  night- 
cap. She  was  so  like  the  pictures  Davy  had  seen  of  her 
that  he  thought  he  would  have  recognized  her  anywhere. 


MOTHER   HUBBARD   SINGS    A    SUNG. 


JACK    AND     THE    BEAN-STALK'S    FARM.  47 

She    sang   in   a  high    key  with   a    very   quavering    voice, 
and  this   was  the  song :  — 

/  had  an   educated  pug, 

His    name  was    Tommy   Jones.; 

He  lived  upon   the  parlor  rug 
Exclusively  on  bones. 

And  if,   in  a  secluded  room, 

I  hid  one  on  a  shelf, 
It  disappeared;   so   I  presume 

He  used  to   help   himself. 


He   had  an   entertaining   trick 
Of  feigning  he  was  dead; 

Then,   with   a   reassuring   kick, 
Would  stand  upon  his  head. 

i  could  not  take  the  proper  change^ 
And  go   to  buy  him  shoes. 

£tut  what  he'd  sit  upon  the  range 
And  read  the   latest   news. 


DAVY    AND     THE    GOBLIN. 

And  when  I  ventured  out,   one  an 

To  order  him  a  coat, 
£  found  him,   in  his   artless   way, 

Careering  on  a  goat. 


I  could   not   go  to   look  at  hats 
But  that,   with  childish  glee, 

He'd  ask  in  all  the  neighbors'  cats 
To  join  him  at  his   tea. 

And  when  I  went  to  pay  a  bill 
(I  think  it  was  for  tripe 'i, 

He  made  himself  extremely   ^tl 
By  smoking  with  a  pipe* 


JACK    AND     THE    BEAN-STALK'S    FARM.  49 

There  was  something  about  the  prim  language  of  this 
song  that  sounded  very  familiar  to  Davy,  and  when 
Mother  Hubbard  chanced  to  turn  her  face  towards  him 
ie  was  surprised  to  see  that  she  looked  very  like  old 
s  Peggs,  his  school-teacher.  While  she  was  singing 
the  song  little  handfuls  of  gravel  were  constantly  thrown 
at  her  through  one  of  the  kitchen  windows,  and  by  the 
L,ime  the  song  was  finished  her  lap  was  quite  full  of  it. 

"I'd  just  like  to  know  who  is  throwing  that  gravel," 
said  Davy,  indignantly. 

"It's  Gobobbles,"  said  the  Cow,  calmly.  "You'll  find 
him  around  at  the  front  of  the  house.  By  the  way,  have 
you  any  chewing-gum  about  you? " 

"Ko,"  said  Davy,  greatly  surprised   at  the   question. 

"  So  I  supposed,"  said  the  Cow.  w  It's  precisely  what 
I  should  expect  of  a  person  who  would  fall  out  of  a 
window." 

"  But  I  couldn't  help  tliat?   said  Davy. 

"Of  course  you  couldn't,"  said  the  Cow,  yawning 
indolently.  "It's  precisely  what  I  should  expect  of  a 
person  who  hadn't  any  chewing-gum."  And  with  this  the 
Cow  walked  gravely  away,  just  as  Mother  Hubbard  made 
her  appearance  at  the  window. 

"  Boy,"  said  Mother  Hubbard,  beaming  mildly  upon  Davy 
through  her  spectacles,  "you  shouldn't  throw  gravel." 

"I   haven't   thrown   any,"   said  Davy. 

"Fie!"  said  Mother  Hubbard,  shaking  her  head; 
rf  always  speak  the  truth." 


50  DAVY    AND     THE    GOBLIN. 

"I  am  speaking  the  truth,"  said  Davy,  indignantly, 
KIt  was  Gobobbles." 

wSo  I  supposed,"  said  Mother  Hubbard,  gently  shaking 
her  head  again.  "It  would  have  been  far  better  if  he 
had  been  cooked  last  Christmas  instead  of  being  left 
over.  Stuffing  him  and  then  letting  him  go  has  made  a 
very  proud  creature  of  him.  You  should  never  be  proud." 

"I'm  not  proud,"  replied  Davy,  provoked  at  being 
mixed  up  with  Gobobbles  in  this  way. 

"You  may  define  the  word  proud,  and  give  a  few 
examples,"  continued  Mother  Hubbard;  and  by  this  time 
she  had  grown  to  be  so  surprisingly  like  Miss  Peggs 
that  Davy  immediately  clasped  his  hands  behind  him, 
according  to  rule,  and  prepared  to  recite. 

"Proud  means  being  set  up,  I  think,"  he  said,  respect- 
fully; "but  I  don't  think  I  know  any  examples." 

"You  may  take  Gobobbles  for  an  example,"  replied 
Mother  Hubbard.  "You'll  find  him  set  up  in  front  of 
the  house,  and  mind  you  don't  aggravate  him;  "  and 
after  again  beaming  mildly  through  her  spectacles  she 
disappeared  from  the  window,  and  Davy  went  cautiously 
around  the  corner  of  the  house,  curious  to  see  what 
Gobobbles  might  be  like.  As  he  approached  the  front 
of  the  house  he  heard  a  loud,  thumping  noise,  and  pres- 
ently he  came  in  sight  of  Gobobbles,  who  proved  to  be  a 
large  and  very  bold-mannered  turkey  with  all  his  feathers 
taken  off  except  a  frowzy  tuft  about  his  neck.  He  was 
tied  fast  in  a  baby's  high  chair,  and  was  thumping  his 


JACK    AND     THE    BEAN-STALK'S    FARM.  5J 

chest  with  his  wings  in  such  a  violent  and  ill-tempered 
manner  that  Davy  at  once  made  up  his  mind  not  to 
aggravate  him  under  any  circumstances.  As  Gobobbles 
caught  sight  of  him  he  discontinued  his  thumping,  and, 
after  staring  at  him  for  a  moment,  said  sulkily:  — 

"I   can't   abide   boys!" 

"Why  not?"   said   Davy. 

"Oh,  they're  so  hungry!"  said  Gobobbles,  passionately. 
*  They're  so  everlastingly  hungry.  Now  don't  deny  that 
you're  fond  of  turkey." 

"Well,  I  do  like  turkey,"  said  Davy,  seeing  no  way 
out  of  the  difficulty. 

"  Of  course  you  do !  "  said  Gobobbles,  tossing  his  head, 
"^ow  you  might  as  well  know,"  he  continued,  resuming 
his  thumping  with  increased  energy,  "that  I'm  as  hollow 
as  a  drum  and  as  tough  as  a  hat-box.  Just  mention 
that  fact  to  any  one  you  meet,  will  you?  I  suppose 
Christmas  is  coming,  of  course." 

"Of  course   it   is,"  replied  Davy. 

"It's  always  coming!"  said  Gobobbles,  angrily;  wl 
never  knew  a  time  yet  when  it  wasn't  coming ! " 

* 'I  don't   mind   having   it   come,"   said  Davy,   stoutly. 

"Oh,  don't  you,  indeed!"  said  Gobobbles.  "Well,  then, 
/  don't  mind  having  you  go ! "  and  here  he  began  hop- 
ping his  chair  forward  in  such  a  threatening  manner 
that  Davy  turned  and  walked  away  with  as  much  dig- 
nity as  he  could  assume. 

As   he   went   around  the   corner   of  the  house   again    he 


62  DAVY    AND     THE    GOBLIN. 

found  himself  in  a  pleasant  lane,  bordered  on  either  side 
by  a  tall  hedge,  and,  as  he  was  now  out  of  sight  of 
Gobobbles,  he  started  off  on  a  gentle  run  by  way  of 
getting  out  of  the  neighborhood  as  soon  as  possible. 
Before  he  had  gone  a  dozen  steps,  however,  he  heard  a 
thumping  sound  behind  him,  and,  looking  back,  he  saw, 
to  his  dismay,  that  Gobobbles  had  in  some  way  got 
loose  from  his  high  chair,  and  was  coming  after  him,, 
thumping  himself  in  a  perfect  frenzy.  In  fact,  his  ap- 
pearance was  so  formidable  that  Davy  did  not  pause  for 
a  second  look,  but  started  off  at  the  top  of  his  speed. 

Gobobbles,  however,  proved  himself  to  be  a  capital 
runner,  and,  in  spite  of  all  Davy's  efforts,  he  could  hear 
the  dreadful  thumping  sound  coming  nearer  and  nearer, 
until  it  seemed  to  be  just  at  his  heels.  At  this  instant 
something  sprang  upon  his  back;  but,  before  he  could 
cry  out  in  his  terror,  a  head  was  suddenly  thrust  over 
his  shoulder,  and  he  found  the  Goblin,  who  was  now 
of  a  bright  purple  color,  staring  him  in  the  face  and 
laughing  with  all  his  might. 


THE    GIANT    BADORFUL.  53 

CHAPTER    VL 

THE    GIANT    BADOKFUL. 

w  GOBLET,"  said  Davy,  very  seriously,  as  the  little  man 
jumped  down  from  off  his  back,  "if  you  are  going  to 
play  such  tricks  as  that  upon  me  I  should  like  to  go 
home  at  once." 

"Where's  the  harm?"  said  the  Goblin,  sitting  down  on 
the  grass  with  his  back  against  a  wall  and  smiling  con- 
tentedly. 

"  The  harm  is  that  I  thought  it  was  Gobobbles,"  said 
Davy,  indignantly. 

"Oh,  you  needn't  be  afraid  of  Gobobbles!"  said  the 
Goblin.  "He's  got  all  that  he  can  attend  to,  taking  care 
of  himself.  You  see,  he's  wanted  for  Christmas,  but 
why  anybody  should  want  him,  to  eat  is  more  than  I 
can  understand.  Why,  he's  seventy  years  old  if  he's  a 
day,  and  as  indigestible  as  an  old  cork." 

Just  at  this  moment  a  loud,  rumbling  noise,  like  dis- 
tant thunder,  came  from  behind  the  wall  against  which  the 
Goblin  was  leaning,  followed  by  a  tremendous  sneeze, 
that  fairly  shook  the  ground. 

"What's  that?"  whispered  Davy  to  the  Goblin,  in  great 
alarm. 

"It's   only   Badorful,"  said   the   Goblin,  laughing.     "He's 


54  DAVY    AND     THE    GOBLIN. 

always  snoring  and  waking  himself  up,  and  I  suppose 
it's  sleeping  on  the  ground  that  makes  him  sneeze.  Let's 
have  a  look  at  him;"  and  the  Goblin  led  the  way  along 
the  wall  to  a  large  grating. 

Davy  looked  through  the  grating,  and  was  much 
alarmed  at  seeing  a  giant,  at  least  twenty  feet  in  height, 
sitting  on  the  ground,  with  his  legs  crossed  under  him 
like  a  tailor.  He  was  dressed  in  a  shabby  suit  of  red 
velveteen,  with  a  great  leathern  belt  about  his  waist  and 
enormous  boots,  and  Davy  thought  he  looked  terribly 
ferocious.  On  the  grass  beside  him  lay  a  huge  club, 
thickly  studded  at  one  end  with  great  iron  knobs;  but 
Davy  noticed,  to  his  great  relief,  that  some  little  creep- 
ing vines  were  twining  themselves  among  these  knobs, 
and  that  moss  was  growing  thickly  upon  one  side  of 
the  club  itself,  as  though  it  had  been  lying  there  un- 
touched for  a  long  time. 

The  giant  was  talking  to  himself  in  a  low  tone,  and 
after  listening  attentively  at  the  grating  for  a  moment, 
the  Goblin  shrieked:  "He's  making  poetry!"  and,  throwing 
himself  upon  the  ground,  kicked  up  his  heels  in  a  perfect 
ecstasy  of  delight. 

"  Oh,  hush,  hush !  "  cried  Davy,  in  terror.  "  Suppose 
he  hears  you !  " 

"Hears  me!"  said  the  Goblin,  discontinuing  his  kicking 
and  looking  very  much  surprised.  ""What  if  he  does?" 

"Well,  you  know,  he  might  not  like  being  laughed 
at,"  said  Davy,  anxiously. 


THE     GIANT    BADORFUL.  57 

w  There's  something  in  that,"  said  the  Goblin,  staring 
reflectively  at  the  ground. 

"  And,  you  see,"  continued  Davy,  "  a  giant  who  doesn't 
like  what's  going  on  must  be  a  dreadful  creature." 

"Oh!  there's  no  fear  of  kirn"  said  the  Goblin,  con- 
temptuously, motioning  with  his  head  toward  the  giant. 
*  He's  too  old.  Why,  I  must  have  known  him,  off  and 
on,  for  nearly  two  hundred  years.  Come  in  and  see  him." 

"Will   he   do  anything?"    said   Davy,   anxiously. 

"Bless  you,  no!"  said  the  Goblin.  "He's  a  perfect 
old  kitten;"  and  with  these  words  he  pushed  open  the 
grating  and  passed  through,  with  Davy  following  trem- 
blingly at  his  heels.  Badorful  looked  up  with  a  feeble 
smile,  and  merely  said,  "Just  listen  to  this:" — 

My  age   is   three  hundred  and   seventy-two, 

And  I  think,  with   the  deepest  regret, 
How   I  used  to  pick  up   and  voraciously  chew 

The  dear  little  boys  whom  I  met. 

I've  eaten  them  raw,  in  their  holiday  suits ; 

I've  eaten   them  curried  with  rice; 
I've  eaten   them   baked,    in   their  jackets  and  boots , 

And  found  them  exceedingly  nice. 

But  now  that  my  jaws  are  too  weak  for  such  fare, 

I  think  it  exceedingly  rude 
To  do  such   a  thing,   when  I'm   quite  well  aware 

Little  boys  do  not  like  to   be  chewed. 


58  DAVY    AND     THE    GOBLIN. 

And  so   I  contentedly   live  upon  eels* 

And   try  to   do   nothing   amiss, 
And  I  pass  all  the  time  I  can  spare  from  my  meals 

In   innocent  slumber — like  this. 


Here  Badorful  rolled  over  upon  his  side,  and  was  in- 
Btantly  fast  asleep. 

"  You  see,"  said  the  Goblin,  picking  up  a  large  stone 
and  thumping  with  it  upon  the  giant's  head,  "you  see, 
he's  quite  weak  here;  otherwise,  considering  his  age,  he's 
a  very  capable  giant." 

At  this  moment  a  farmer,  with  bright  red  hair,  thrust 
his  head  in  at  the  grating,  and  calling  out,  "Here  comes 
Gobobbles ! "  disappeared  again ;  and  Davy  and  the  Goblin 
rushed  out,  and  were  just  in  time  to  see  Gobobbles  go  by 
like  a  flash,  with  a  crowd  of  people  armed  with  pitch- 
forks in  hot  pursuit.  Gobobbles  was  going  in  fine  style, 
bounding  over  the  hedges  and  stone- walls  like  a  kangaroo, 
and  thumping  vigorously,  as  usual,  with  his  wings,  and 
Davy  and  the  Goblin  were  just  setting  off  on  a  run  to 
join  in  the  chase,  when  a  voice  said,  "Ahem!"  and, 
looking  up,  they  saw  Badorful  staring  at  them  over  the 
top  of  the  wall. 

"  How  does  this  strike  you? "  he  said,  addressing  him- 
self  to  Davy :  — 

Although  I  am  a  giant  of  the  exhibition  size, 

Tve  been  nicely  educated,   <*nd  I  notice  with   surprise 


THE     GIANT    BADORFUL.  59 

That   the  simplest  rules   of  etiquette  you  don't  pretend  tc  keep, 
For  you   skurry   off  to  races  while   a  gentleman's  asleep. 

Don't  reply  that  I  was  drowsy,  for  my  nap   was  but  a  kind 
Of  dramatic   illustration   of  a  peaceful  frame  of  mind; 
And  you   really   might  have  waited  till   I  woke  again,  instead 
Of  indelicately  pounding,  with  a  stone,  upon  my  head. 

Very  probably  you'll  argue  that  our  views  do  not  agree,  — 
Tve  often  found  that  little  boys  have  disagreed   with   me,  — 
But  I'm  properly   entitled,   on  the  compensation  plan, 
To   three  times   as  much  politeness  as  an  ordinary  man. 

Davy  was  greatly  distressed  at  having  these  severe 
remarks  addressed  to  him. 

"If  you  please,  sir,"  he  said  earnestly,  w I  didn't  pound 
you." 

At  this  the  giant  glared  savagely  at  the  Goblin,  and 
continued :  — 

My  remarks  have  been  directed  at  the  one  who,  I  supposed. 
Had  been  violently  thumping  on  my  person  while  I  dozed; 
By  a  simple  calculation,  you  will  find  that  there  is  due 
Just  six  times  as  much  politeness  from  a  little  chap  like  you. 

"Oh!  you  make  me  ill!"  said  the  Goblin,  flippantly. 
K  Go  to  sleep." 

Badorful  stared  at  him  for  a  moment,  and  then,  with  a 
sickly  smile,  murmured,  "  Good- afternoon,"  and  disappeared 
behind  the  wall. 


60  DAVY    AND     THE    GOBLIN. 

Davy  and  the  Goblin  now  hurried  off  in  pursuit  of 
Gobobbles,  and  presently  came  upon  the  crowd  of  farmers 
who  had  joined  hands  in  a  ring,  and  were  dancing  around 
a  large  white  object  lying  on  the  ground.  Davy  pushed 
his  way  eagerly  through  the  crowd,  expecting  to  see  Gob- 
obbles; but  the  white  object  proved  to  be  the  Cockalorum 
hemmed  in  by  a  ring  of  pitchforks  sticking  in  the  ground, 
and  with  his  feathers  more  rumpled  than  ever. 

w  Dear  me ! "  exclaimed  Davy,  perfectly  amazed,  w  I  thought 
we  were  chasing  Gobobbles ! " 

wOf  course  you  did,"  said  the  Goblin,  complacently; 
"but  in  this  part  of  the  world  things  very  often  turn  out 
to  be  different  from  what  they  would  have  been  if  they 
hadn't  been  otherwise  than  as  you  expected  they  were 
going  to  be." 

wBut  you  thought  so  yourself,"  began  Davy,  when,  to 
his  distress,  the  Goblin  suddenly  faded  into  a  dull  pink- 
ish color,  and  then  disappeared  altogether.  Davy  looked 
about  him,  and  found  that  the  Cockalorum  and  the  dancing 
farmers  had  also  disappeared,  and  that  he  was  quite  alone  in 
a  dense  wood. 


THE    MOVING    FOREST.  63 

CHAPTEK    VII. 

THE   MOVING   FOREST. 

wOn,  dear!"  cried  Davy,  speaking  aloud  in  his  distress, 
{?I  do  wish  people  and  things  wouldn't  change  about  so! 
Just  so  soon  as  ever  I  get  to  a  place  it  goes  away,  and  I'm 
somewhere  else!"  —  and  the  little  boy's  heart  began  to  beat 
rapidly  as  he  looked  about  him;  for  the  wood  was  very 
dark  and  solemn  and  still. 

Presently  the  trees  and  bushes  directly  before  him  moved 
silently  apart  and  showed  a  broad  path  beautifully  overgrown 
with  soft  turf;  and  as  he  stepped  forward  upon  it  the 
trees  and  bushes  beyond  moved  silently  aside  in  their  turn, 
and  the  path  grew  before  him,  as  he  walked  along,  like  a 
green  carpet  slowly  unrolling  itself  through  the  wood. 
It  made  him  a  little  uneasy,  at  first,  to  find  that  the  trees 
behind  him  came  together  again,  quietly  blotting  out  the 
path;  but  then  he  thought,  "It  really  doesn't  matter,  so 
long  as  I  don't  want  to  go  back;"  and  so  he  walked  along 
very  contentedly. 

By  and  by  the  path  seemed  to  give  itself  a  shake,  and, 
turning  abruptly  around  a  large  tree,  brought  Davy  suddenly 
upon  a  little  butcher's  shop,  snugly  buried  in  the  wood. 
There  was  a  sign  on  the  shop,  reading,  w ROBIN  HOOD: 
VENISON,"  and  Robin  himself,  wearing  a  clean  white  apron 


(54  DAVY    AND     THE    GOBLIN. 

over  his  suit  of  Lincoln  green,  stood  in  the  door-way, 
holding  a  knife  and  steel,  as  though  he  were  on  the  lookout 
for  customers.  As  he  caught  sight  of  Davy  he  said, 
"Steaks?  Chops?"  in  an  inquiring  way,  quite  like  an 
every-day  butcher. 

"  Yenison  is  deer,  isn't  it?  "  said  Davy,  looking  up  at  the 
sign. 

"Not  at  all,"  said  Robin  Hood,  promptly.  "It's  the 
heapest  meat  about  here." 

"Oh,  I  didn't  mean  that,"  replied  Davy;  "I  meant  that 
it  comes  off  of  a  deer." 

"  Wrong  again !  "  said  Robin  Hood,  triumphantly.  "  It 
comes  on  a  deer.  I  cut  it  off  myself.  Steaks?  Chops?" 

"  No,  I  thank  you,"  said  Davy,  giving  up  the  argument. 
"I  don't  think  I  want  anything  to  eat  just  now." 

"  Then  what  did  you  come  here  for? "  said  Robin 
flood,  peevishly.  "What's  the  good,  I'd  like  to  know, 
of  standing  around  and  staring  at  an  honest  trades- 
man?" 

"Well,  you  see,"  said  Davy,  beginning  to  feel  that  he 
had,  somehow,  been  very  rude  in  coming  there  at  all,  "I 
didn't  know  you  were  this  sort  of  person  at  all.  I 
always  thought  you  were  an  archer,  like  —  like  William 
Tell,  you  know." 

"That's  all  a  mistake  about  Tell,"  said  Robin  Hood, 
contemptuously.  "  He  wasn't  an  archer.  He  was  a  cross- 
bow man,  —  the  Grossest  one  that  ever  lived.  By  the 
way,"  he  added,  suddenly  returning  to  business  with  the 


is- 


THE    MOVING    FOREST.  67 

greatest  earnestness,  "you  don't  happen  to  want  any  steaks 
or  chops  to-day,  do  you?" 

"!N~o,   not  to-day,  thank  you,"  said  Davy,  very  politely. 

"To-morrow?"   inquired  Robin   Hood. 

"No,   I  thank  you,"   said   Davy   again. 

"Will  you  want  any  yesterday?"  inquired  Robin  Hood, 
rather  doubtfully. 

"  I  think  not,"   said  Davy,  beginning  to  laugh. 

Robin  Hood  stared  at  him  for  a  moment  with  a  puz- 
zled expression,  and  then  walked  into  his  little  shop,  and 
Davy  turned  away.  As  he  did  so  the  path  behind  him 
began  to  unfold  itself  through  the  wood,  and,  looking 
back  over  his  shoulder,  he  saw  the  little  shop  swallowed 
up  by  the  trees  and  bushes.  Just  as  it  disappeared  from 
view  he  caught  a  glimpse  of  a  charming  little  girl,  peep- 
ing out  of  a  latticed  window  beside  the  door.  She  wore 
a  little  red  hood,  and  looked  wistfully  after  Davy  as  the 
shop  went  out  of  sight. 

"I  verily  believe  that  was  Little  Red  Riding  Hood," 
said  Davy  to  himself,  "and  I  never  knew  before  that 
Robin  Hood  was  her  father!"  The  thought  of  Red 
Riding  Hood,  however,  brought  the  wolf  to  Davy's  mind, 
and  he  began  to  anxiously  watch  the  thickets  on  either 
side  of  the  path,  and  even  went  so  far  as  to  whistle 
softly  to  himself,  by  way  of  showing  that  he  wasn't  in 
Ihe  least  afraid.  He  went  on  and  on,  hoping  the  iorest 
nrould  soon  come  to  an  end,  until  the  path  shook  itself 
jigain,  disclosing  to  view  a  trim  little  brick  shop  in  the 


68  DAVY    AND     THE    GOBLIN. 

densest  part  of  the  thicket.  It  had  a  neat  little  green 
door,  with  a  bright  brass  knocker  upon  it,  and  a  sign 
above  it,  bearing  the  words:  — 

w  SHAM-SIIAM  :    BARGAINS  IN  WATCHES." 

w  Well ! "  exclaimed  Davy,  in  amazement.  w  Of  all  places 
to  sell  watches  in  that's  the  preposterest!"  —  but  as  he 
turned  to  walk  away  he  found  the  trees  and  bushes  for 
the  first  time  blocking  his  way,  and  refusing  to  move 
aside.  This  distressed  him  very  much,  until  it  suddenly 
occurred  to  him  that  this  must  mean  that  he  was  to  go 
into  the  shop;  and,  after  a  moment's  hesitation,  he  went 
up  and  knocked  timidly  at  the  door  with  the  bright  brass 
knocker.  There  was  no  response  to  the  knock,  and  Davy 
cautiously  pushed  open  the  door  and  went  in. 

The  place  was  so  dark  that  at  first  he  could  see 
nothing,  although  he  heard  a  rattling  sound  coming  from 
the  back  part  of  the  shop;  but  presently  he  discovered 
the  figure  of  an  old  man,  busily  mixing  something  in  a 
large  iron  pot.  As  Davy  approached  him  he  saw  that 
the  pot  was  full  of  watches,  which  the  old  man  was 
stirring  with  a  ladle.  The  old  creature  was  very  curiously 
dressed,  in  a  suit  of  rusty  green  velvet,  with  little  silver 
buttons  sewed  over  it,  and  he  wore  a  pair  of  enormous 
yellow-leather  boots;  and  Davy  was  quite  alarmed  at  see- 
ing that  a  broad  leathern  belt  about  his  waist  was  stuck 
full  of  old-fashioned  knives  and  pistols.  Davy  was  about 


THE    MOVING    FOREST.  71 

to  retreat  quickly  from  the  shop,  when  the  old  man  looked 
up,  and  said,  in  a  peevish  voice:  — 

"How  many  watches  do  you  want?"  —  and  Davy  saw 
that  he  was  a  very  shocking-looking  person,  with  wild, 
staring  eyes,  and  with  a  skin  as  dark  as  mahogany,  as 
if  he  had  been  soaked  in  something  for  ever  so  long. 

"How  many?"    repeated  the   old   man,   impatiently. 

"If  you  please,"  said  Davy,  "I  don't  think  Til  take 
any  watches  to-day.  I'll  call"  — 

"Drat  'em!"  interrupted  the  old  man,  angrily  beating 
the  watches  with  his  ladle;  "I'll  never  get  rid  of  em — - 
never ! " 

"It  seems  to  me"  —  began  Davy,   soothingly. 

"Of  course  it  does!"  again  interrupted  the  old  man, 
as  crossly  as  before.  "Of  course  it  does!  That's  because 
you  won't  listen  to  the  why  of  it." 

"But  I  will  listen,"   said  Davy. 

"  Then  sit  down  on  the  floor  and  hold  np  your  ears," 
said  the  old  man. 

Davy  did  as  he  was  told  to  do,  so  far  as  sitting  down 
on  the  floor  was  concerned,  and  the  old  man  pulled  a 
paper  out  of  one  of  his  boots,  and,  glaring  at  Davy  over 
the  top  of  it,  said,  angrily:  — 

"You're  a  pretty  spectacle!  I'm  another.  What  does 
that  make?" 

"A  pair   of  spectacles,  I   suppose,"   said  Davy. 

"Right!"  said  the  old  man.  "Here  they  are."  And 
pulling  an  enormous  pair  of  spectacles  out  of  the  other 


72  DAVY    AND     THE     GOBLIN. 

boot   he   put  them   on,  and   began   reading   aloud  from  hia 
paper:  — 

My  recollectest  thoughts   are  those 

Which   I  remember  yet; 
And  bearing  on,   as  you'd  suppose, 

The  things  I  don't  forget. 

But   my    resemblest    thoughts    are    less 

Alike  than  they  should  be; 
A.   state   of  things,    as  you'll  confess. 

You   very  seldom   see. 

"Clever,  isn't  it?"  said  the  old  man,  peeping  proudly 
over  the  top  of  the  paper. 

"Yes,   I  think   it  is,"   said    Davy,    rather   doubtfully. 

"Now  comes  the  cream  of  the  whole  thing,"  said  the 
old  man.  "Just  listen  to  this:"  — 

And  yet  the  mostest   thought  I  love 
Is  what  no  one  believes  — 

Here  the  old  man  hastily  crammed  the  paper  into  hia 
boot  again,  and  stared  solemnly  at  Davy. 

"What  is  it?"  said  Davy,  after  waiting  a  moment  for 
him  to  complete  the  verse.  The  old  man  glanced  sus- 
piciously about  the  shop,  and  then  added,  in  a  hoarse 
whisper:  — 

That  Pm  the  sole  survivor  of 
T/ie  famous  Forty    Thieves! 


THE    MOVING    FOREST.  73 

"But  I  thought  the  Forty  Thieves  were  all  boiled  to 
death,"  said  Davy. 

"All  but  me,"  said  the  old  man,  decidedly.  "I  was  in 
the  last  jar,  and  when  they  came  to  me  the  oil  was  off 
the  boil,  or  the  boil  was  off  the  oil, — I  forget  which  it 
was,  —  but  it  ruined  my  digestion,  and  made  me  look  like 
a  gingerbread  man.  What  larks  we  used  to  have ! " 
he  continued,  rocking  himself  back  and  forth  and  chuck- 
ling hoarsely.  "  Oh !  we  were  a  precious  lot,  we  were ! 
I'm  Sham-Sham,  you  know.  Then  there  was  Anamana- 
mona  Mike,  —  he  was  an  Irishman  from  Hullaboo,  —  and 
Barcelona  Boner, — he  was  a  Spanish  chap,  and  boned 
everything  he  could  lay  his  hands  on.  Strike's  real  name 
was  Gobang;  but  we  called  him  Strike,  because  he  was 
always  asking  for  more  pay.  Hare  Ware  was  a  poacher^ 
and  used  to  catch  Welsh  rabbits  in  a  trap;  we  called 
him  ?  Hardware '  because  he  had  so  much  steal  about 
him.  Good  joke,  wasn't  it?  " 

"Oh,   very!"  said  Davy,  laughing. 

"Frown  Whack  was  a  scowling  fellow  with  a  club," 
continued  Sham-Sham.  "My!  how  he  could  hit!  And 
Harico  and  Barico  were  a  couple  of  bad  Society  Island- 
ers. Then  there  was  Wee  Wo,  —  he  was  a  little  Chinese 
chap,  and  we  used  to  send  him  down  the  chimneys  to 
open  front  doors  for  us.  He  used  to  say  that  sooted 
him  to  perfection.  Wac — " 

At  this  moment  an  extraordinary  commotion  began 
among  the  watches.  There  was  no  doubt  about  it,  the 


74  DAVY    AND     THE    GOBLIN. 

pot  was  boiling,  and  Sham-Sham,  angrily  crying  out, 
K  Don't  tell  me  a  watched  pot  never  boils  I "  sprang  to 
his  feet,  and,  pulling  a  pair  of  pistols  from  his  belt, 
began  firing  at  the  watches,  which  were  now  bubbling 
over  the  side  of  the  pot  and  rolling  about  the  floor; 
while  Davy,  who  had  had  quite  enough  of  Sham-Sham 
by  this  time,  ran  out  of  the  door. 

To  his  great  surprise  he  found  himself  in  a  sort  of 
underground  passage,  lighted  by  grated  openings  over- 
head; but  as  he  could  still  hear  Sham-Sham,  who  now 
seemed  to  be  firing  all  his  pistols  at  once,  he  did  not 
hesitate,  but  ran  along  the  passage  at  the  top  of  his 
speed. 

Presently  he  came  in  sight  of  a  figure  hurrying  toward 
him  with  a  lighted  candle,  and,  as  it  approached,  he  was 
perfectly  astounded  to  see  that  it  was  Sham-Sham  him- 
self, dressed  up  in  a  neat  calico  frock  and  a  dimity 
apron,  like  a  house-keeper,  and  with  a  bunch  of  keys 
hanging  at  his  girdle. 

The  old  man  seemed  to  be  greatly  agitated,  and 
hurriedly  whispering,  w  We  thought  you  were  never 
coming,  sir! "  led  the  way  through  the  passage  in 
great  haste.  Davy  noticed  that  they  were  now  in 
a  sort  of  tunnel  made  of  fine  grass.  The  grass  had 
a  delightful  fragrance,  like  new-mown  hay,  and  was 
neatly  wound  around  the  tunnel,  like  the  inside  of  a 
bird's-nest.  The  next  moment  they  came  out  into  an 
open  space  in  the  forest,  where,  to  Davy's  amazement, 


THE    MOVING    FOREST. 


77 


the   Cockalorum  was   sitting  bolt  upright  in  an  arm-chair, 
with   his   head   wrapped  up   in  flannel. 

It   seemed  to   be   night,   but  the    place   was    lighted    up 
by  a  large  chandelier  that  hung  from  the  branches  of  a 


THE    COCKALORUM    IS   ILL, 


tree,  and  Davy  saw  that  a  number  of  odd-looking  bird? 
were  roosting  on  the  chandelier  among  the  lights,  gaz- 
ing down  upon  the  poor  Cockalorum  with  a  melancholy 
interest.  As  Sham-Sham  made  his  appearance,  with 


78  DAVY    AND     THE    GOBLIN. 

at  his  heels,  there  was  a  sudden  commotion  among  the 
birds,  and  they  all  cried  out  together,  "Here's  the  doc- 
tor !  "  but  before  Davy  could  reply  the  Hole-keeper  suddenly 
made  his  appearance,  with  his  great  book,  and,  hurriedly 
turning  over  the  leaves,  said,  pointing  to  Davy,  "He 
isn't  a  doctor.  His  name  is  Gloopitch."  At  these  words 
there  arose  a  long,  wailing  cry,  the  lights  disappeared,  and 
Davy  found  himself  on  a  broad  path  in  the  forest,  with 
the  Hole-keeper  walking  quietly  beside  him. 


SINDBAD     THE    SAILORS    HOUSE.  79 


CHAPTER 

SINDBAD   THE   SAILOR'S   HOUSE. 

"You  had  no  right  to  tell  those  birds  my  name  was 
Grloopitch  !  "  said  Davy,  angrily.  "  That's  the  second  time 
you've  got  it  wrong." 

"Well,  it's  of  no  consequence,"  said  the  Hole-keeper, 
complacently.  "I'll  make  it  something  else  the  next 
time.  I  suppose  you  know  they've  caught  Gobobbles?" 

"I'm  glad  of  it!"  said  Davy,  heartily.  "He's  worse  than 
the  Cockalorum,  ten  times  over.  What  did  they  do  with 
him?" 

"Cooked  him,"  said  the  Hole-keeper,  —  "roasted  him, 
fried  him,  pickled  him,  and  boiled  him." 

"Gracious!"  exclaimed  Davy;  "I  shouldn't  think  he'd 
be  good  for  much  after  all  that." 

"He  isn't,"  replied  the  Hole-keeper,  calmly.  "They're 
going  to  keep  him  to  rub  out  pencil-marks  with." 

This  was  such  a  ridiculous  idea  that  Davy  threw  back 
his  head,  and  laughed  long  and  loud. 

"Do  that  again,"  said  the  Hole-keeper,  stopping  short 
in  his  walk  and  gazing  at  him  earnestly;  and  Davy  burst 
into  another  fit  of  laughter. 

"  Do  it  again,"  persisted  the  Hole-keeper,  staring  at  him 
etill  more  solemnly. 


gO  DAVY    AND     THE    GOBL1Z*. 

This  was  somewhat  tiresome;  and,  after  a  rather  feeble 
attempt  at  a  third  laugh,  Davy  said,  "  I  don't  feel  like  it 
any  more." 

"If  /  could  do  that,"  said  the  Hole-keeper,  earnestly, 
"I'd  never  stop.  The  fact  is,"  he  continued,  gravely 
shaking  his  head,  "I've  never  laughed  in  my  life.  Does 
It  hurt  much?" 

"It  doesn't  hurt  at  all,"  said  Davy,  beginning  to  laugh 
again. 

"Well,  there,  there!"  said  the  Hole-keeper,  peevishly, 
resuming  his  walk  again;  "don't  keep  it  up  forever.  Ity 
the  way,  you're  not  the  postman,  are  you?" 

"Of  course  I'm  not,"  said  Davy. 

"I'm  glad  of  that,"  said  the  Hole-keeper;  "postmen 
are  always  so  dreadfully  busy.  Would  you  mind  deliver- 
ing a  letter  for  me?"  he  added,  lowering  his  voice  con- 
fidentially. 

"Oh,  no,"  answered  Davy,  rather  reluctantly;  "not  if 
it  will  be  in  my  way." 

"  It's  sure  to  be  in  your  way,  because  it's  so  big,"  said 
the  Hole-keeper;  and,  taking  the  letter  out  of  his  pocket, 
he  handed  it  to  Davy.  It  certainly  was  a  very  large 
letter,  curiously  folded,  like  a  dinner-napkin,  and  sealed 
in  a  great  many  places  with  red  and  white  peppermint 
drops,  and  Davy  was  much  pleased  to  see  that  it  was 
addressed:  — 


SINDBAD     THE    SAILORS    HOUSE. 


81 


Captain  Robinson  Crusoe, 
Jeran  Feranderperandamam, 
B.  G. 


"What  does  B.  G-.  stand  for?"  said  Davy. 

"  Baldergong's  Geography,  of  course,"  said  the  Hole- 
keeper. 

"But  why  do  you  put  that  on  the  letter?"  inquired 
Davy. 

"Because  you  can't  find  Jeran  Feranderperandamam 
anywhere  else,  stupid,"  said  the  Hole-keeper,  impatiently. 
"But  I  can't  stop  to  argue  about  it  now;"  and,  saying  this, 
he  turned  into  a  side  path,  and  disappeared  in  the  wood. 

As  Davy  walked  mournfully  along,  turning  the  big  letter 
over  and  over  in  his  hands,  and  feeling  very  confused  by 
the  Hole-keeper's  last  remark,  he  presently  saw,  lying  on 
the  walk  before  him,  a  small  book,  beautifully  bound  in 
crimson  morocco,  and,  picking  it  up,  he  saw  that  it  was 
marked  on  the  cover:  — 


BALDERGONG'S  STUFFING  FOR  THE  STUPID. 


"Perhaps  this  will  tell  me  where  to  go,"  he  thought 
as  he  opened  it;  but  it  proved  to  be  far  more  confusing 
than  the  Hole-keeper  himself  had  been.  In  fact  it  was 


82  DAVY    AND    THE    GOBLIN. 

altogether  the  most  ridiculous  and  provoking  book  Davy 
had  ever  seen. 

The  first  page  was  headed,  in  large  capital  letters:  — 

HOW   TO    FRILL    GRIDDLEPIGS. 

And  it  seemed  to  Davy  that  this  ought  to  be  something 
about  cooking  sausages;  but  all  he  found  below  the  head- 
ing was:  — 

Never  frill  'em:  snuggle  9em  always. 

And  this  seemed  so  perfectly  silly  that  he  merely  said, 
KOh,  bosh!"  and  turned  impatiently  to  the  next  page. 
This,  however,  was  no  better.  The  heading  was:  — 

TWO    WAYS    OP     FRUMPLING     CRUMBLES. 

And  under  this   was  — 

One    way:  — 
Frumple  your  crumbles  with   rumbles. 

The  other    way:  — 

Frumple  your  crumbles:  then  add  two  grumbles  of 
tumbles  and  stir  rapidly. 

Davy  read  this  over  two  or  three  times,  in  the  greatest 
perplexity,  and  then  gave  it  up  in  despair. 

"It's  nothing  at  all  except  a  jumbly  way  of  cooking 
something  tumbly,"  he  said  to  himself,  and  then  turned 
sadly  to  the  third  page.  Alas!  this  was  a  great  deal 
worse,,  being  headed:  — 


SINDBAD     THE    SAILOR'S    HOUSE.  83 

THE    BEST    SNTJB    FOR    FEASTIE     SPKALLSJ 

and  poor  Davy  began  to  feel  as  if  he  were  taking  leave 
of  his  senses.  He  was  just  about  to  throw  the  book 
down  in  disgust,  when  it  was  suddenly  snatched  out  of 
his  hands;  and,  turning  hastily,  he  saw  a  savage  glaring 
at  him  from  the  bushes. 

Now  Davy  knew  perfectly  well,  as  all  little  boys  should 
know,  that  when  you  meet  a  savage  in  the  woods  you 
must  get  behind  a  tree  as  quickly  as  possible;  but  he 
did  this  in  such  haste  that  he  found,  to  his  dismay,  that 
he  and  the  savage  had  chosen  the  same  tree,  and  in  the 
next  instant  the  savage  was  after  him.  The  tree  was  a 
very  large  one,  and  Davy,  in  his  fright,  went  around  it 
a  number  of  times,  so  rapidly  that  he  presently  caught 
sight  of  the  back  of  the  savage,  and  he  was  surprised 
to  see  that  he  was  no  bigger  than  a  large  monkey; 
and,  moreover,  that  he  was  gorgeously  dressed,  in  a 
beautiful  blue  coat,  with  brass  buttons  on  the  tail  of  it, 
and  pink  striped  trousers.  He  had  hardly  made  this 
discovery  when  the  savage  vanished  as  mysteriously  as 
he  had  appeared,  and  the  next  moment  Davy  came  sud- 
denly upon  a  high  paling  of  logs,  that  began  at  the 
tree  and  extended  in  a  straight  line  far  out  into  the 
forest. 

It  was  very  puzzling  to  Davy  when  it  occurred  to  him 
that,  although  he  had  been  around  the  tree  at  least  a 
dozen  times,  he  had  never  seen  this  paling  before,  and 


84  DAVY    AND     THE    GOBLIN. 

a  door  that  was  in  it  also  bothered  him;  for,  though 
it  was  quite  an  ordinary-looking  door,  it  had  no  knob 
nor  latch,  nor,  indeed,  any  way  of  being  opened  that  he 
could  perceive.  On  one  side  of  it,  in  the  paling,  was 
a  row  of  bell-pulls,  marked:  — 

Family; 

Police; 

Butcher; 

Baker; 

Candlestick-maker; 

and  on  the  door  itself  was   a  large   knocker,  marked :  — 


After  examining  all  these  Davy  decided  that,  as  he 
had  a  letter  in  charge,  he  was  more  of  a  postman  than 
anything  else,  and  he  therefore  raised  the  knocker  and 
rapped  loudly.  Immediately  all  the  bell-pulls  began  flying 
in  and  out  of  their  own  accord,  with  a  deafening 
clangor  of  bells  behind  the  paling;  and  then  the  door 
swung  slowly  back  upon  its  hinges. 

Davy  walked  through  the  door-way  and  found  himself 
in  the  oddest-looking  little  country  place  that  could 
possibly  be  imagined.  There  was  a  little  lawn  laid  out, 
on  which  a  sort  of  soft  fur  was  growing  instead  of  grass, 
and  here  and  there  about  the  lawn,  in  the  place  of 


SINDBAD     THE    SAILOR'S    HOUSE. 


85 


flower-beds,  little  footstools,  neatly  covered  with  carpet, 
were  growing  out  of  the  fur.  The  trees  were  simply 
large  feather-dusters,  with  varnished  handles;  but  they 
seemed,  nevertheless,  to  be  growing  in  a  very  thriving 
manner,  and  on  a  little  mound  at  the  back  of  the  lawn 


THE     SAVAGE     WAS     SITTING     IN     THE     SHADE     OF     ONE     OF     THE     DUSTERS. 


stood  a  small  house,  built  entirely  of  big  conch-shells, 
with  their  pink  mouths  turned  outward.  This  gave  the 
house  a  very  cheerful  appearance,  as  if  it  were  constantly 
on  a  broad  grin. 

To  Davy's   dismay,   however,  the   savage   was   sitting  in 
the    shade    of    one    of   the    dusters,   complacently  reading 


86  UAVY    AND     THE    GOBLIN. 

the  little  red  book,  and  he  was  just  wondering  whethef 
or  not  he  would  be  able  to  get  out  of  the  place  with- 
out being  seen,  when  the  little  creature  looked  up  at 
him  with  a  tremendous  smile  on  his  face,  and  Davy 
saw,  to  his  astonishment,  that  he  was  the  Goblin,  dressed 
up  like  an  Ethopian  serenader. 

"Oh!  you  dear,  delicious  old  Goblin!"  cried  Davy,  in 
an  ecstasy  of  joy  at  again  finding  his  travelling-companion. 
"  And  were  you  the  savage  that  was  chasing  me  just 
now?" 

The  Goblin  nodded  his  head,  and,  exclaiming  "My,  how 
you  did  cut  and  run!"  rolled  over  and  over,  kicking  his 
heels  about  in  a  delirium  of  enjoyment. 

"  Goblin,"  said  Davy,  gravely,  "  I  think  we  could  have 
just  as  good  a  time  without  any  such  doings  as  that." 

"/  couldn't,"  said  the  Goblin,  sitting  up  again  and 
speaking  very  positively;  "it's  about  all  the  fun  I  have." 

"Well,  then,"  said  Davy,  WI  wish  you  wouldn't  be  dis- 
appearing all  the  time.  I  think  that  is  a  very  disagreeable 
habit." 

"Rubbish!"  said  the  Goblin,  with  a  chuckle.  "That's 
only  my  way  of  getting  a  vacation." 

"And  where  do  you  go?"  inquired  Davy;  but  this 
proved  to  be  a  very  unfortunate  question,  for  the  Goblin 
immediately  began  fading  away  in  such  an  alarming  man- 
ner that  he  would  certainly  have  gone  entirely  out  of 
eight  if  Davy  had  not  caught  him  by  the  coat-collar  and 
pulled  him  into  view  again  with  a  gentle  shake. 


SINDBAD     THE    SAILORS    HOUSE.  87 

w  Oh,  I  beg  your  pardon !  "  said  Davy,  who  was  greatly 
alarmed  by  this  narrow  escape.  "  I  really  don't  care 
to  know  about  that;  I  only  want  to  know  what  place 
this  is." 

The  Goblin  stared  about  him  in  a  dazed  manner  for 
a  moment,  and  then  said,  "Sindbad  the  Sailor's  house." 

"  Really   and  truly? "    said  the   delighted   Davy. 

"Really  and  treally  truly,"  said  the  Goblin.  "And  here 
he  comes  now !  " 

Davy  looked  around  and  saw  an  old  man  coming  toward 
them  across  the  lawn.  He  was  dressed  in  a  Turkish 
costume,  and  wore  a  large  turban  and  red  morocco  slippera 
turned  up  at  the  toes  like  skates;  and  his  white  beard 
was  so  long  that  at  every  fourth  step  he  trod  upon  if 
and  fell  flat  on  his  face.  He  took  no  notice  whatever 
of  either  Davy  or  the  Goblin,  and,  after  falling  down  a 
number  of  times,  took  his  seat  upon  one  of  the  little 
carpet  footstools,  and  taking  off  his  turban  began  stirring 
about  in  it  with  a  large  wooden  spoon.  As  he  took  off 
his  turban  Davy  saw  that  his  head,  which  was  perfectly 
bald,  was  neatly  laid  out  in  black  and  white  squares  like 
a  chess-board. 

"  This  here  Turk  is  the  most  reckless  old  story-teller 
that  ever  was  born,"  said  the  Goblin,  pointing  with  his 
thumb  over  his  shoulder  at  Sindbad.  "You  can't  believe 
half  he  tells  you." 

"I'd  like  to  hear  one  of  his  stories,  for  all  that,"  said 
Davy. 


88  DAVY    AND     THE    GOBLIN. 

"All  right!"  said  the  Goblin,  promptly;  "just  come 
along  with  me,  and  he'll  give  us  a  whopper." 

As  they  started  off  to  join  Sindbad,  Davy  was  much 
surprised  to  see  that  the  Goblin  was  much  taller  than 
he  had  been ;  in  fact,  he  was  now  almost  up  to  Davy's 
shoulder. 

"Why,  I  verily  believe  you've  been  growing!"  ex- 
claimed Davy,  staring  at  him  in  amazement. 

"I  have,"  said  the  Goblin,  calmly.  "But  I  only  did 
it  to  fit  these  clothes.  It's  much  handier,  you  see,  than 
having  a  suit  made  to  order." 

"But,  suppose  the  clothes  had  been  too  small?"  argued 
Davy. 

"  Then  I'd  have  grown  the  other  way,"  replied  the 
Goblin,  with  an  immense  smile.  "It  doesn't  make  a  bit 
of  difference  to  me  which  way  I  grow.  Anything  to  be 
comfortable  is  my  rule ; "  and  as  he  said  this  they  came 
to  where  Sindbad  was  sitting,  busily  stirring  with  his 
great  spoon. 

As  Davy  and  the  Goblin  sat  down  beside  him,  Sindbad 
hastily  put  on  his  turban,  and,  after  scowling  at  Davy 
for  a  moment,  said  to  the  Goblin,  "It's  no  use  telling 
him  anything;  he's  as  deaf  as  a  trunk." 

"Then  tell  it  to  me,"  said  the  Goblin,  with  great 
presence  of  mind. 

"All  right,"  said  Sindbad,  "Til  give  you  a  nautical 
one." 

Here  he  rose  for  a  moment,  hitched  up  his  big  trousers 


SINDBAD     THE    SAILOR'S    HOUSE.  89 

/ike   a   sailor,  cocked    his  turban  on   one    side   of  his   head, 
and,  sitting  down   again,   began:  — 


A  capital  ship  for  an   ocean   trip 

Was  "The    Walloping    Window-blind;" 
2To  gale  that  blew   dismayed  her   crew 

Or  troubled  the   captain's   mind. 
The   man   at   the  wheel  was   taught   to  feel 

Contempt  for   the  wildest   blow, 
And  it   often   appeared,    when   the   weather   had  cleared, 

That    he'd  been  in  his   bunk  below. 

The  boatswain's  mate  was  very  sedate, 

Yet  fond    of  amusement,   too; 
And  he  played  hop-scotch   with   the  starboard  watch 

Wldle  the  captain   tickled  the  crew. 
And  the    gunner  we  had  was  apparently   mad, 

For  he  sat  on  the   after-rail, 
And  fired  salutes  with   the   captain's  boots, 

In   the  teeth   of  the   booming  gale. 

The  captain   sat    in   a  commodore's   hat, 

And  dined,   in   a  royal  way, 
On   toasted  pigs   and  pickles  and  Jigs 

And  gummery  bread,   each   day. 
But  the  cook  was  Dutch,   and  behaved  as  such; 

For  the  food  .that  he  gave   the  crew 
Was  a   number  of  tons  of  hot-cross   buns, 

Chopped  up   with  sugar  and  glue. 


DAVY    AND    THE    GOBLIN. 

And  we  all  felt   ill  as  mariners  will, 

On  a  diet  that's  cheap  and  rude; 
And  we  shivered  and  shook  as  we  dipped   the  cook 

In  a   tub   of  his  gluesome  food. 
Then  nautical  pride  we  laid  aside, 

And  we  cast  the  vessel  ashore 
On  the    Gfulliby  Isles,   where  the  Poohpooh  smiles, 

And  the  Anagazanders  roar. 

Composed  of  sand    was  that  favored  land, 

And   trimmed   with  cinnamon    straws; 
And  pink  and  blue  was    the  pleasing  hue 

Of  the    Tickletoeteaser's  claws. 
And  we  sat    on   the  edge    of  a    sandy  ledge 

And  shot  at  the  whistling  bee; 
And    the  Binnacle-bats  wore  water-proof  hats 

As  they  danced   in   the  sounding  sea. 

On  rubagub  bark,  from   dawn   to   dark, 

We  fed,   till  we  all  had  grown 
Uncommonly  shrunk,  —  when  a    Chinese  junk 

Came  by  from   the    torriby  zone. 
She  was  stubby   and  square,   but  we  didn't  much  care, 

And  we  cheerily  put  to  sea; 
And  we  left  the  crew  of  the  junk  to  chew 

The  bark  of  the  rubagub  tree. 


Here    Sindbad    stopped,    and  gazed    solemnly  at    Davj 
and  the  Goblin. 


SIN  DEAD     THE    SAILOR'S    HOUSE.  93 

wlf  you  please,  sir,"  said  Davy,  respectfully, "  what  is 
gummery  bread?  " 

"It's  bread  stuffed  with  molasses,"  said  Sindbad;  "but 
I  never  saw  it  anywhere  except  aboard  of  'The  Prodi- 
gal Pig.'" 

"But,"  said  Davy,  in  great  surprise,  "you  said  the 
name  of  your  ship  was"  — 

"  So  I  did,  and  so  it  was,"  interrupted  Sindbad,  testily. 
"  The  name  of  a  ship  sticks  to  it  like  wax  to  a  wig. 
You  can't  change  it." 

"Who   gave  it  that  name?"    said  the   Goblin. 

"  What  name?"  said  Sindbad,  looking  very  much  as- 
tonished. 

"Why,  'The  Cantering  Soup-tureen,'"  said  the  Goblin, 
winking  at  Davy. 

"Oh,  that  name,"  said  Sindbad, — "that  was  given  to 
her  by  the  Alamagoozelum  of  Popjaw.  But  speaking 
of  soup-tureens,  let's  go  and  have  some  pie;"  and,  rising 
to  his  feet,  he  gave  one  hand  to  Davy  and  the  other 
to  the  Goblin,  and  they  all  walked  off  in  a  row  toward 
the  little  shell  house.  This,  however,  proved  to  be  a 
very  troublesome  arrangement,  for  Sindbad  was  constantly 
stepping  on  his  long  beard  and  falling  down;  and  as  he 
kept  a  firm  hold  of  his  companions'  hands  they  all  went 
down  in  a  heap  together  a  great  many  times.  At  last 
Sindbad's  turban  fell  off,  and  as  he  sat  up  on  the  grass, 
and  began  stirring  in  it  again  with  his  wooden  spoon, 
Davy  saw  that  it  was  full  of  broken  chessmen. 


94 


DAVY    AND     THE     GOBLIN. 


"It's  a  great   improvement,  isn't  it?"  said   Sindbad. 

"What  is?"  said  Davy,  very   much  puzzled. 

"Why,  this  way  of  playing    the  game,"    said    Sindbad. 


HE  GAVE  ONE  HAND  TO  DAYT  AKD  THE  OTHER  TO  THE  GOBLIW." 


looking  up  at  him  complacently.  "You  see,  you  make  all 
the  moves  at  once." 

"It  must  be   a  very  easy  way,"  said  Davy. 

"It's  nothing  of  the  sort,"  said  Sindbad,  sharply. 
"There  are  more  moves  in  one  of  my  games  than  in 
twenty  ordinary  games;"  and  here  he  stirred  up  the 
chessmen  furiously  for  a  moment,  and  then  triumphantly 
calling  out  "Check!"  clapped  the  turban  on  his  head. 

As  they  set  out  again  for  the  little  house  Davy  saw 
lhat  it  was  slowly  moving  around  the  edge  of  the  lawn, 


SINDBAD     THE    SAILORS    HOUSE.  95 

as  if  it  were  on  a  circular  railway,  and  Sindbad  followed 
it  around,  dragging  Davy  and  the  Goblin  with  him, 
but  never  getting  any  nearer  to  the  house. 

"Don't  you  think,"  said  Davy,  after  a  while,  "that  it 
would  be  a  good  plan  to  stand  still  and  wait  until  the 
house  came  around  to  us?" 

"Here,  drop  that!"  exclaimed  Sindbad,  excitedly;  "that's 
my  idea.  I  was  just  about  proposing  it  myself." 

"So  was  I,"  said  the  Goblin  to  Sindbad.  "Just  leave 
my  ideas  alone,  will  you?" 

"Your  ideas!"  retorted  Sindbad,  scornfully.  "I  didn't 
know  you'd  brought  any  with  you." 

"I  had  to,"  replied  the  Goblin,  with  great  contempt, 
*  otherwise  there  wouldn't  have  been  any  on  the  prem- 
ises." 

"Oh!  come,  I  say!"  cried  Sindbad;  "that's  my  sneer, 
you  know.  Don't  go  to  putting  the  point  of  it  the  wrong 
way." 

"  Take  it  back,  if  it's  the  only  one  you  have,"  retorted 
the  Goblin,  with  another  wink  at  Davy. 

"  Thank  you,  I  believe  I  will,"  replied  Sindbad,  meekly; 
and,  as  the  little  house  came  along  just  then,  they  all 
stepped  in  at  the  door  as  it  went  by.  As  they  did  so, 
to  Davy's  amazement,  Sindbad  and  the  Goblin  quietly 
vanished,  and  Davy,  instead  of  being  inside  the  house, 
Ibund  himself  standing  in  a  dusty  road,  quite  alone. 


96  DAVY    AND     THE     GOBLIN. 

CHAPTER    IX. 

LAY-OVERS  FOR  MEDDLERS. 

As  Davy  stood  in  the  road,  in  doubt  which  way  to 
go,  a  Roc  came  around  the  corner  of  the  house.  She 
was  a  large  bird,  nearly  six  feet  tall,  and  was  comforta- 
bly dressed,  in  a  bonnet  and  a  plaid  shawl,  and  wore 
overshoes.  About  her  neck  was  hung  a  covered  basket 
and  a  door-key;  and  Davy  at  once  concluded  that  she 
was  Sindbad's  house-keeper. 

"I  didn't  mean  to  keep  you  waiting,"  said  the  Roc, 
leading  the  way  along  the  road;  "but  I  declare  that, 
what  with  combing  that  lawn  every  morning  with  a  fine- 
tooth  comb,  and  brushing  those  shells  every  evening  with 
a  fine  tooth-brush,  I  don't  get  time  for  anything  else 
let  alone  feeding  the  animals." 

"What  animals?"  said  Davy,  beginning  to  be  inter- 
ested. 

"  Why,  his,  of  course,"  said  the  Roc,  rattling  on  in 
her  harsh  voice.  "There's  an  Emphasis  and  two  Periodi- 
cals, and  a  Spotted  Disaster,  all  crawlin'  and  creepin'  and 
ecreechin' "  — 

Here  Davy,  unable  to  control  himself,  burst  into  a  fil 
of  laughter,  in  which  the  Roc  joined  heartily,  rolling 
her  head  from  side  to  side,  and  repeating,  "All  crawlin' 


LAY-OVERS    FOR    MEDDLERS. 


97 


and  creepin'  and  screechin',"  over  and  over  again,  as  if 
that  were  the  cream  of  the  joke.  Suddenly  she  stopped 
laughing,  and  said  in  a  low  voice,  "You  don't  happen 
to  have  a  beefsteak  about  you,  do  you?" 

Davy    confessed    that   he  bad   not,    and    the    Roc    con- 
tinued,   "Then  T    must   go   back.      Just    hold  my  basket, 


like  a  good  child."  Here  there  was  a  scuffling  sound  in 
the  basket,  and  the  Roc  rapped  on  the  cover  with  her 
hard  beak,  and  cried,  "Hush!" 

"What's  in  it?"  said  Davy,  cautiously  taking  the 
basket. 

"Lay-overs  for  meddlers,"  said  the  Roc,  and,  hurrying 
back  along  the  road,  was  soon  out  of  sight. 


08  DAVY    AND     THE    GOBLIN. 

WT  wonder  what  they're  like,"  said  Davy  to  himself, 
getting  down  upon  his  hands  and  knees  and  listening 
curiously  with  his  ear  against  the  cover  of  the  basket. 
The  scuffling  sound  continued,  mingled  with  little  sneezes 
and  squeaking  sobs,  as  if  some  very  small  kittens  had  bad 
colds  and  were  crying  about  it. 

"I  think  I'll  take  a  peep,"  said  Davy,  looking  cau- 
tiously about  him.  There  was  no  one  in  sight,  and  he 
carefully  raised  the  cover  a  little  way  and  tried  to  look 
in.  The  scuffling  sound  and  the  sobs  ceased,  and  the 
next  instant  the  cover  flew  off  the  basket,  and  out  poured 
a  swarm  of  little  brown  creatures,  like  snuff-boxes  with 
legs.  As  they  scampered  off  in  all  directions  Davy  made 
a  frantic  grab  at  one  of  them,  when  it  instantly  turned 
over  on  its  back  and  blew  a  puff  of  smoke  into  his  face, 
and  he  rolled  over  in  the  road,  almost  stifled.  When  he 
was  able  to  sit  up  again  and  look  about  him  the  empty 
basket  was  lying  on  its  side  near  him,  and  not  a  lay-over 
was  to  be  seen.  At  that  moment  the  Roc  came  in  sight, 
hurrying  along  the  road  with  her  shawl  and  her  bonnet- 
strings  fluttering  behind  her;  and  Davy,  clapping  the 
cover  on  the  basket,  took  to  his  heels  and  ran  for  dear 
life. 


ISIBSY.  93 

CHAPTER  X. 

BIBST. 

THE  road  was  very  dreary  and  dusty,  and  wound  in 
and  out  in  the  most  tiresome  way  until  it  seemed  to 
have  no  end  to  it,  and  Davy  ran  on  and  on,  half  ex- 
pecting at  any  moment  to  feel  the  Roc's  great  beak 
pecking  at  his  back.  Fortunately  his  legs  carried  him 
along  so  remarkably  well  that  he  felt  he  could  run  for 
a  week;  and,  indeed,  he  might  have  done  so  if  he  had 
not,  at  a  sharp  turn  in  the  road,  come  suddenly  upon  a 
horse  and  cab.  The  horse  was  fast  asleep  when  Davy 
dashed  against  him,  but  he  woke  up  with  a  start,  and, 
after  whistling  like  a  locomotive  once  or  twice  in  a  very 
alarming  manner,  went  to  sleep  again.  He  was  a  very 
frowsy-looking  horse,  with  great  lumps  at  his  knees  and 
a  long,  crooked  neck  like  a  camel's;  but  what  attracted 
Davy's  attention  particularly  was  the  word  "  REBSY  "  painted 
in  whitewash  on  his  side  in  large  letters.  He  was  look- 
ing at  this,  and  wondering  if  it  were  the  horse's  name, 
when  the  door  of  the  cab  flew  open  and  a  man  fell  out, 
and,  after  rolling  over  in  the  dust,  sat  up  in  the  middle 
of  the  road  and  began  yawning.  He  was  even  a  more  ri- 
diculous-looking object  than  the  horse,  being  dressed  in  a 
clown's  suit,  with  a  morning-gown  over  it  by  way  of  a 


100  DAVY    AND     THE    GOBLIA. 

top-coat,  and  a  field-marshal's  cocked  hat.  In  fact,  if  he 
had  not  had  a  whip  in  his  hand  no  one  would  ever  have 
taken  him  for  a  cabman.  After  yawning  heartily  he 
looked  up  at  Davy,  and  said  drowsily,  "Where  to?" 

"  To  B.  G.,"  said  Davy,  hastily  referring  to  the  Hole- 
keeper's  letter. 

"All  right,"  said  the  cabman,  yawning  again.  "Climb 
in,  and  don't  put  your  feet  on  the  cushions." 

STow,  this  was  a  ridiculous  thing  for  him  to  say,  for 
when  Davy  stepped  inside  he  found  the  only  seats  were 
some  three-legged  stools  huddled  together  in  the  back  part 
of  the  cab,  all  the  rest  of  the  space  being  taken  up  by 
a  large  bath-tub  that  ran  across  the  front  end  of  it. 
Davy  turned  on  one  of  the  faucets,  but  nothing  came  ont 
except  some  dust  and  a  few  small  bits  of  gravel,  and  he 
shut  it  off  again,  and,  sitting  down  on  one  of  the  little 
stools,  waited  patiently  for  the  cab  to  start. 

Just  then  the  cabman  put  his  head  in  at  the  window, 
and,  winking  at  him  confidentially,  said,  "Can  you  tell 
me  why  this  horse  is  like  an  umbrella?" 

"No,"   said  Davy. 

"Because  he's   used  up?   said  the   cabman. 

"I  don't  think  that's  a  very  good  conundrum,"  said 
Davy. 

"So  do  I,"  said  the  cabman.  "But  it's  the  best  one 
I  can  make  with  this  horse.  Did  you  say  M".  B.?"  he 
asked. 

I  said   B.   G.,"   said    Davy. 


RIBSY. 


101 


w  All  right,"  said  the  cabman  again,  and  disappeared 
from  the  window.  Presently  there  was  a  loud  trampling 
overhead,  and  Davy,  putting  his  head  out  at  the  window, 
saw  that  the  cabman  had  climbed  up  on  top  of  the  cab 


"THE  CABMAN  HAD  CLIMBED  UP  ON  TOP  OF  THE  CAB  AND  WAS 
THROWING  STONES  AT  THE  HORSE." 

and  was  throwing  stones  at  the  horse,  which  was  still 
sleeping  peacefully. 

"It's  all  right,"  said  the  cabman,  cheerfully,  as  he 
caught  sight  of  Davy.  "If  he  doesn't  start  pretty  soon 
I'll  give  him  some  snuff.  That  always  wakes  him  up." 

"Oh!  don't  do  that,"  said  Davy,  anxiously.  "I'd 
rather  get  out  and  walk." 


102  DAVY    AND    THE    GOBLIN. 

"Well,  I  wish  you  would,"  said  the  cabman,  in  a  tone 
of  great  relief.  "This  is  a  very  valuable  stand,  and  I 
don't  care  to  lose  my  place  on  it; "  and  Davy  accord- 
ingly jumped  out  of  the  cab  and  walked  away. 

Presently  there  was  a  clattering  of  hoofs  behind  him, 
and  Ribsy  came  galloping  along  the  road,  with  nothing 
on  him  but  his  collar.  He  was  holding  his  big  head 
high  in  the  air,  like  a  giraffe,  and  gazing  proudly  about 
him  as  he  ran.  He  stopped  short  when  he  saw  the 
little  boy,  and,  giving  a  triumphant  whistle,  said  cheer- 
fully, "How  are  you  again?" 

It  seemed  rather  strange  to  be  spoken  to  by  a  cab- 
horse,  but  Davy  answered  that  he  was  feeling  quite 
well. 

"So  am  I,"  said  Ribsy.  "The  fact  is,  that  when  it 
comes  to  beating  a  horse  about  the  head  with  a  three- 
legged  stool,  if  that  horse  is  going  to  leave  at  all,  it's 
time  he  was  off." 

"I  should  think  it  was,"   said  Davy,   earnestly. 

"You'll  observe,  of  course,  that  I've  kept  on  my  shoes 
and  my  collar,"  said  Ribsy.  wlt  isn't  genteel  to  go 
barefoot,  and  nothing  makes  a  fellow  look  so  untidy  as 
going  about  without  a  collar.  The  truth  is,"  he  con- 
tinued, sitting  down  in  the  road  on  his  hind  legs, — "the 
truth  is,  I'm  not  an  ordinary  horse,  by  any  means.  I 
have  a  history,  and  I've  arranged  it  in  a  popular  form, 
in  six  canters,  —  I  mean  cantos,"  he  added,  hastily  cor- 
recting himself. 


KIBSY.  103 

"I'd  like  to  hear  it,  if  you  please,"  said  Davy,  po- 
litely. 

"Well,   I'm   a  little   hoarse,"  —  began   Ribsy. 

"I  think  you're  a  very  big  horse,"  said  Davy,  in  great 
surprise. 

"I'm  referring  to  my  voice,"  said  Ribsy,  haughtily. 
"Be  good  enough  not  to  interrupt  me  again;"  and, 
giving  two  or  three  preliminary  whistles  to  clear  his 
throat,  he  began:  — 

It's  very  confining,   this  living    in  stables, 

And  passing   one's   time  among  wagons  and   carts; 

I  much  prefer  dining  at  gentlemen's  tables, 
And  living  on  turkeys  and  cranberry  tarts. 

I  find  with  surprise  that   I'm  constantly  sneezing ; 

I'm  stiff  in  the  legs,   and  I'm  often  for  sale; 
And  the  blue-bottle  flies,   with  their  tiresome  teasing. 

Are  quite  out  of  reach  of  my  weary  old  tail. 

"By  the  way,"  said  Ribsy,  getting  up  and  turning 
himself  around,  "what  does  my  tail  look  like?" 

"I  think,"  said  Davy,  after  a  careful  inspection,  "I 
think  it  looks  something  like  an  old  paint-brush." 

"  So  I  supposed,"  said  Ribsy,  gloomily,  and,  sitting 
down  again,  he  went  on  with  his  history :  — 

As  spry   as  a  kid  and  as   trim   as  a   spider 
Was  I  in  the  days  of  the    Turnip-top   Hunt, 


104  DAVY    AND     THE    GOBLIN. 

When   I  used  to  get  rid  of  the  weight  of  my   rider 
And  canter  contentedly   in   at  the  front. 

I  never  was  told  that  this  jocular  feature 
Of  mine  was  a   trick  reprehensibly   rude, 

And  yet  I  was  sold,   like  a  commonplace  creature, 
To  work  in  a  circus  for  lodgings  and  food. 

WI  suppose  you  have  never  been  a  circus-horse?"  said 
Ribsy,  stopping  short  in  his  verses  again  and  gazing 
inquiringly  at  Davy. 

w  Never,"   said   Davy. 

tf  Then  you  don't  know  anything  about  it,"  said  Ribsy. 
*  Here  we  go  again :  "  — 

Pray  why,   if  you  please,   should  a   capable  charger 
Perform  on  a   ladder  and  prance   in   a  show? 

And  why  should  his  knees  be  made  thicker  and  larger 
By  teaching  him  tricks  that  he'd  rather  not  know? 

Oh!  why  should  a  horse,  for  society  fitted, 
Be  doomed  to  employment  so   utterly   bad, 

And  why  should  a  coarse-looking   man  be  permitted 
To  dance  on  his  back  on  a  top-heavy  pad? 

Here  Ribsy  paused  once  more,  and  Davy,  feeling  that 
he  ought  to  make  some  sort  of  an  answer  to  such  a 
lot  of  questions,  said  helplessly,  "I  don't  know." 

w!N"o  more  do  I,"  said  Ribsy,  tossing  his  head  scornfully. 


RIBSY.  105 

It   made  me   a   wreck,  with   no   hope   of  improvement, 

Too  feeble  to  race  with  an    invalid  crab; 
I'm  wry   in   the  neck,   with   a   rickety   movement 

Peculiarly  suited  for  drawing  a   cab. 

They  pinch  me  with  straps,  and  they  bruise  me  with  buckles, 
They  drive  me  too  rapidly  over  the  stones;  — 

A  reason,  perhaps,   why  a  number  of  knuckles 
Have  lately   appeared  on  my  prominent  bones. 

"I  see  them,"  cried  Davy,  eagerly;  "I  thought  they 
were  corns." 

"Thank  you,"  said  Ribsy,  haughtily.  "As  the  next 
verse  is  the  last  you  needn't  trouble  yourself  to  make 
any  further  observations." 

/  dream  of  a  spot  which  I  used  to  roam  over 
In   infancy's  days,   with   a  frolicsome  skip, 

Content  with   my  lot,  which  was  planted  with   clover, 
And  never  annoyed  by   the  crack  of  a  whip. 

But  I  think  my  remarks  will  determine  the  question, 
Of  why  I  am  bony   and  thin  as  a  rail; 

I'm  off  for  some   larks,    to   improve  my  digestion, 
And  point  the  stern  moral  conveyed  by  my  tail. 

Here  Ribsy  got  upon  his  legs  again,  and,  after  a  re- 
freshing fillip  with  his  heels,  cantered  off  along  the  road, 
whistling  as  he  went.  Two  large  blue-bottle  flies  were 


106  DAVY    AND     THE    GOBLIN. 

on  his  back,  and  his  tail  was  flying  around,  with  an 
angry  whisk,  like  a  pin- wheel;  but,  as  he  disappeared  in 
the  distance,  the  flies  were  still  sitting  calmly  on  the 
ridge  of  his  spine,  apparently  enjoying  the  scenery. 

Davy  was  about  to  start  out  again  on  his  journey, 
when  he  heard  a  voice  shouting  "Hi!  Hi!"  and,  looking 
back,  he  saw  the  poor  cabman  coming  along  the  road 
on  a  brisk  trot,  dragging  his  cab  after  him.  He  had 
on  Ribsy's  harness,  and  seemed  to  be  in  a  state  of 
tremendous  excitement. 

As  he  came  up  with  Davy  the  door  of  the  cab  flew 
open  again,  and  the  three-legged  stools  came  tumbling 
out,  followed  by  a  dense  cloud  of  dust. 

"  Get  in !  Get  in ! "  shouted  the  cabman,  excitedly. 
"Never  mind  the  dust;  I've  turned  it  on  to  make  believe 
we're  going  tremendously  fast." 

Davy  hastily  scrambled  in,  and  the  cabman  started  off 
again.  The  dust  was  pouring  out  of  both  faucets,  and 
a  heavy  shower  of  gravel  was  rattling  into  the  bath-tub; 
and,  to  make  matters  worse,  the  cabman  was  now  going 
along  at  such  an  astonishing  speed  that  the  cab  rocked 
violently  from  side  to  side,  like  a  boat  in  a  stormy  sea. 
Davy  made  a  frantic  attempt  to  shut  off  the  dust,  but 
it  seemed  to  come  faster  and  faster,  until  he  was  almost 
choked,  and  by  this  time  the  gravel  had  become  as  large 
as  cherry-stones,  and  was  flying  around  in  the  cab  and 
rattling  about  his  ears  like  a  little  hail-storm.  Now,  all 
this  was  a  great  deal  more  than  Davy  had  bargained  for. 


RIBSY.  107 

and  it  was  so  very  unpleasant  that  he  presently  sat  down 
on  the  floor  of  the  cab  in  the  hope  of  getting  a  little  out 
of  the  way  of  the  flying  gravel.  As  he  did  this  the  rock- 
ing motion  became  less  violent,  and  then  ceased  altogether, 
as  though  the  cabman  had  suddenly  come  to  a  stop. 
Then  the  dust  cleared  away,  and  Davy,  to  his  surprise, 
found  himself  sitting  in  the  road  directly  in  front  of  the 
little  house  that  Jack  built. 

The  cabman  and  his  cab  had  vanished  entirely,  but, 
curiously  enough,  the  cab  door  was  standing  wide  open 
in  the  wall  of  the  house,  just  above  the  porch,  and  in  the 
opening  stood  the  red  Cow  gazing  down  upon  him,  and 
solemnly  chewing,  as  before.  The  house  had  such  a  fa- 
miliar look  to  him  that  Davy  felt  quite  at  home;  and, 
moreover,  the  Cow  seemed  quite  like  an  old  acquaintance, 
compared  with  the  other  creatures  he  had  met,  and  he  was 
just  about  to  begin  a  friendly  conversation  with  her, 
when  she  suddenly  stopped  chewing,  and  said,  "How  did 
you  get  here?" 

"I  came  in  a  cab,"  said  Davy.  "We  came  along  just 
behind  the  horse." 

"People  in  cabs  usually  do,"  said  the  Cow;  "leastwise 
I  never  heard  of  any  of  'em  being  ahead  of  him." 

"But  this  horse  was  running  away,  you  know,"  said 
Davy. 

"Where  was  the  cabman?"  said  the  Cow,  suspiciously. 

"  He  was  drawing  the  cab,"  said  Davy. 


108  DAVY    AND     THE    GOBLIN. 

"What!"  exclaimed  the  Cow,  —  "while  the  horse  was 
running  away?  Oh,  come,  I  say!" 

"He  was,  truly,"  said  Davy,  laughing;  "you  never  saw 
anything  half  so  ridiculous." 

"I  certainly  never  did  —  that  I  can  remember,"  said  the 
Cow;  "but  then,  you  see,  I  haven't  always  been  a 
cow." 

"Really? "said  Davy. 

"Really,"  said  the  Cow,  very  solemnly.  "The  fact  is, 
I've  been  changed." 

"And  what  did  you  use  to  be?"  said  Davy,  who  was 
now  fully  prepared  for  something  marvellous. 

"  A  calf,"  said  the  Cow,  with  a  curious  rumbling  chuckle. 

"I  don't  think  thafs  a  very  good  joke,"  said  the  disap- 
pointed little  boy. 

"It's  a  deal  funnier  than  your  cab  story,"  said  the  Cow. 
<?  And,  what's  more,  it's  true !  Good-afternoon."  And  with 
this  the  Cow  disappeared  from  the  opening,  and  the  cab 
door  shut  to  with  a  loud  bang. 

Davy  sat  still  for  a  moment,  hoping  that  Mother  Hubbard, 
or  perhaps  the  dog,  or  even  the  cat,  would  appear,  so  that 
he  might  explain  his  story  about  the  cab.  None  of  them 
came;  but  meanwhile  a  very  extraordinary  thing  happened, 
for  the  house  itself  began  to  go.  First  the  chimneys  sank 
down  through  the  roof,  as  if  they  were  being  lowered  into 
the  cellar.  Then  the  roof  itself,  with  its  gables  and  dormer 
windows,  softly  folded  itself  flat  down  upon  the  top  of  the 
house,  out  of  sight.  Then  the  cab  door  and  the  latticed 


RIBST.  109 

windows  fluttered  gently  for  a  moment,  as  if  rather  uncertain 
how  to  dispose  of  themselves,  and  finally  faded  away,  one 
by  one,  as  if  they  had  been  soaked  into  the  bricks.  Then 
the  porch  gravely  took  itself  to  pieces  and  carried  itself, 
so  to  speak,  carefully  in  through  the  front  door;  and 
finally  the  front  door  went  in  itself,  and  nothing  was  left 
of  the  house  that  Jack  built  but  a  high  brick  wall,  with 
the  climbing  roses  running  all  over  it  like  a  beautiful 
pink  vine.  All  this  was  so  unexpected  and  so  wonderful 
that  Davy  sat  quite  still,  expecting  something  marvellous 
of  this  wall;  but  it  proved  to  be  a  very  matter-of-fact 
affair,  with  no  intention  whatever  of  doing  anything  or 
going  anywhere,  and,  after  watching  it  attentively  for  a 
few  moments,  Davy  got  up  and  resumed  his  journey  along 
the  road. 


110  DAVY    AND     THE     GOBLIN. 


CHAPTER  XI. 

BOBINSON   CRUSOE'S   ISLAND. 

wTHis  is  a  very  sloppy  road,"  said  Davy  to  himself, 
as  he  walked  away  from  the  Bean-stalk  farm;  and  it 
was,  indeed,  a  very  sloppy  road.  The  dust  had  quite 
disappeared,  and  the  sloppiness  soon  changed  to  such  a 
degree  of  wetness  that  Davy  presently  found  himself  in 
water  up  to  his  ankles.  He  turned  to  go  back,  and 
saw,  to  his  alarm,  that  the  land  in  every  direction  seemed 
to  be  miles  away,  and  the  depth  of  the  water  increased 
so  rapidly  that,  before  he  could  make  up  his  mind  what 
to  do,  it  had  risen  to  his  shoulders,  and  he  was  carried 
}ff  his  feet  and  found  himself  apparently  drifting  out  to 
«ea.  The  water,  however,  was  warm  and  pleasant,  and 
he  discovered  that,  instead  of  sinking,  he  was  floated 
gently  along,  slowly  turning  in  the  water  like  a  float  on 
a  fishing-line.  This  was  very  agreeable;  but  he  was, 
nevertheless,  greatly  relieved  when  a  boat  came  in  sight 
sailing  toward  him.  As  it  came  near,  it  proved  to  be 
the  clock,  with  a  sail  hoisted,  and  the  Goblin  sitting 
complacently  in  the  stern. 

"How   d'ye   do,   Gobsy?"   said  Davy. 

w  Prime ! "   said  the   Goblin,   enthusiastically. 


ROBINSON    CRUSOE'S    ISLAND.  Ul 

"Well,  stop  the  clock,"  said  Davy;  "I  want  to  get 
aboard." 

"I  haven't  any  board,"  said  the  Goblin,  in  great  sur- 
prise. 

"I  mean  I  want  to  get  into  the  clock,"  said  Davy, 
laughing.  "I  don't  think  you're  much  of  a  sailor." 

"I'm  not,"  said  the  Goblin,  as  Davy  climbed  in.  "I've 
been  sailing  one  way  for  ever  so  long,  because  I  don't 
know  how  to  turn  around;  but  there's  a  landing-place 
just  ahead." 

Davy  looked  over  his  shoulder  and  found  that  they 
were  rapidly  approaching  a  little  wooden  pier,  standing 
about  a  foot  out  of  the  water.  Beyond  it  stretched  a 
broad  expanse  of  sandy  beach. 

"What  place   is   it?"   said  Davy. 

"It's  called  Hickory  Dickory  Dock,"  said  the  Goblin. 
"  All  the  eight-day  clocks  stop  here ; "  and  at  this  mo- 
ment the  clock  struck  against  the  timbers  with  a  violent 
thump,  and  Davy  was  thrown  out,  heels  over  head,  upon 
the  dock.  He  scrambled  upon  his  feet  again  as  quickly 
as  possible,  and  saw,  to  his  dismay,  that  the  clock  had 
been  turned  completely  around  by  the  shock  and  was 
rapidly  drifting  out  to  sea  again.  The  Goblin  looked 
back  despairingly,  and  Davy  just  caught  the  words,  "I 
don't  know  how  to  turn  around ! "  when  the  clock  was 
carried  out  of  hearing  distance,  and  soon  disappeared 
on  the  horizon. 

The    beach   was    covered    in   every    direction   with    little 


112  DAVY    AND     THE    GOBLIN. 

hills  of  sand,  like  haycocks,  with  scraggy  bunches  of 
sea-weed  sticking  out  of  the  tops  of  them;  and  Davy 
was  wondering  how  they  came  to  be  there,  when  he 
caught  sight  of  a  man  walking  along  the  edge  of  the 
water,  and  now  and  then  stopping  and  gazing  earnestly 
out  to  sea.  As  the  man  drew  nearer,  Davy  saw  that 
he  was  dressed  in  a  suit  of  brown  leather,  and  wore  a 
high-peaked  hat,  and  that  a  little  procession,  consisting 
of  a  dog,  a  cat,  and  a  goat,  was  following  patiently  at 
his  heels,  while  a  parrot  was  perched  upon  his  shoulder. 
They  all  wore  very  large  linen  collars  and  black  cravats, 
which  gave  them  a  very  serious  appearance. 

Davy  was  morally  certain  that  the  man  was  Robinson 
Crusoe.  He  carried  an  enormous  gun,  which  he  loaded 
from  time  to  time,  and  then,  aiming  carefully  at  the  sea, 
fired.  There  was  nothing  very  alarming  about  this,  for 
the  gun,  when  fired,  only  gave  a  faint  squeak,  and  the 
bullet,  which  was  about  the  size  of  a  small  orange, 
dropped  out  quietly  upon  the  sand.  Robinson,  for  it 
was  really  he,  always  seemed  to  be  greatly  astonished  at 
this  result,  peering  long  and  anxiously  down  into  the 
barrel  of  the  gun,  and  sometimes  listening  attentively, 
with  his  ear  at  the  muzzle.  His  animal  companions,  how- 
ever, seemed  to  be  greatly  alarmed  whenever  he  pre- 
pared to  fire;  and,  scampering  off,  hid  behind  the  little 
hills  of  sand  until  the  gun  was  discharged,  when  they 
would  return,  and,  after  solemnly  watching  their  master 
reload  his  piece,  follow  him  along  the  beach  as  before. 


MOBINSOtf    CRUSOE'S    ISLAND.  H3 

This  was  all  so  ridiculous  that  Davy  had  great  diffi- 
culty in  keeping  a  serious  expression  on  his  face  as 
he  walked  up  to  Robinson  and  handed  him  the  Hole- 
keeper's  letter.  Robinson  looked  at  him  suspiciously 
as  he  took  it,  and  the  animals  eyed  him  with  evident 
distrust. 

Robinson  had  some  difficulty  in  opening  the  letter, 
which  was  sopping  wet,  and  took  a  long  time  to  read 
it,  Davy,  meanwhile,  waiting  patiently.  Sometimes  Rob- 
inson would  scowl  horribly,  as  if  puzzled,  and  then,  again, 
he  would  chuckle  to  himself,  as  if  vastly  amused  with  the 
contents;  but  as  he  turned  the  letter  over,  in  reading  it, 
Davy  could  not  help  seeing  that  it  was  simply  a  blank 
sheet  of  paper,  with  no  writing  whatever  upon  it  except 
the  address.  This,  however,  was  so  like  the  Hole-keeper's 
way  of  doing  things  that  Davy  was  not  much  surprised 
when  Robinson  remarked,  "He  has  left  out  the  greatest 
lot  of  comical  things ! "  and,  stooping  down,  buried  the 
letter  in  the  sand.  Then,  picking  up  his  gun,  he  said, 
"You  may  walk  about  in  the  grove  as  long  as  you 
please,  provided  you  don't  pick  anything." 

"What   grove?"    said  Davy,   very  much   surprised. 

"This  one,"  said  Robinson,  proudly  pointing  out  the 
tufts  of  sea- weed.  "They're  beach-trees,  you  know;  I 
planted  'em  myself.  I  had  to  have  some  place  to  go 
shooting  in,  of  course." 

"Can  you   shoot  with   that  gun?"    said  Davy. 

c<  Shoot !     Why,    it's    a    splendid    gun ! "    said    Robinson, 


114 


DAVY    AND     THE     GOBLIb. 


gazing    at    it    proudly.       "I    made    it    myself — out    ot    a 
spy-glass." 

wlt  doesn't   seem   to   go   off,"   said  Davy,   doubtfully. 


"ROBINSON  REMARKED  'HE  HAS  LEFT  OUT  THE  GREATEST  LOT  OF  COMICAL  THINGS." 


" That's  the  beauty  of  it!"  exclaimed  Robinson,  with 
great  enthusiasm.  "Some  guns  go  off,  and  you  never 
see  'em  again." 

"But  I  mean  that  it  doesn't  make  any  noise,"  persisted 
Davy. 


KOBINSON    CRUSOE'S    ISLAND.  115 

w  Of  course  it  doesn't,"  said  Robinson.  w  That's  because 
T  load  it  with  tooth-powder." 

"But  I  don't  see  what  you  can  shoot  with  it,"  said 
Davy,  feeling  that  he  was  somehow  getting  the  worst  of 
the  argument. 

Robinson  stood  gazing  thoughtfully  at  him  for  a  moment, 
while  the  big  bullet  rolled  out  of  the  gun  with  a  rum- 
bling sound  and  fell  into  the  sea.  WI  see  what  you 
want,"  he  said,  at  length.  "You're  after  my  personal 
history.  Just  take  a  seat  in  the  family  circle  and  I'll 
give  it  to  you." 

Davy  looked  around  and  saw  that  the  dog,  the  goat, 
and  the  cat  were  seated  respectfully  in  a  semicircle,  with 
the  parrot,  which  had  dismounted,  sitting  beside  the  dog. 
He  seated  himself  on  the  sand  at  the  other  end  of  the 
line,  and  Robinson  began  as  follows :  — 

The   night  was   thick   and  hazy 

When   the  «  Piccadilly  Daisy" 
Carried  down   the  crew  and  captain   in  the  sea; 

And  I  think  the  water  drowned  'em; 

For  then  never,   never  found  'em, 
And  I  know  they   didn't  come  ashore  with  me. 

Oh!    'twas  very  sad  and  lonely 

When   I  found  myself  the  only 
Population   on   this   cultivated  shore; 

But   I've  made  a   little   tavern 

In  a   rocky   little  cavern, 
And  I  sit  and  watch  for  people  at  the  door. 


116  DAVY    AND     THE    GOBLIN. 

I  spent  no  time  in   looking 

For  a  girl  to   do   my   cooking, 
As  Pm  quite  a   clever  hand  at  making  stews' 

But  I  had  that  fellow   Friday, 

Just  to  keep   the  tavern   tidy, 
And  to  put  a   Sunday  polish   on  my  shoes. 

I  have  a   little  garden 

That  I'm  cultivating   lard  in, 
As  the  things  I  eat  are  rather  tough   and  dry; 

For  I  live  on  toasted  lizards, 

Prickly  pears,   and  parrot  gizzards, 
And  Pm  really  very  fond  of  beetle-pie. 

TJie  clothes   I  had  were  furry, 

And  it  made  me  fret  and  worry 
WJien  I  found  the  moths  were  eating  off  the  haw: 

And  I  had  to  scrape  and  sand  'em, 

And  I  boiled  'em  and  I  tanned  'em, 

Till  I  got  the  fine  morocco  suit  I  wear. 

I  sometimes  seek  diversion 

In   a  family  excursion 
With   the  few  domestic  animals  you  see; 

And  we  take  along  a  carrot 

As  refreshment  for  the  parrot, 
And  a  little  can   of  jungleberry  tea. 

Then  we  gather,   as  we  travel, 
Bits  of  moss   and  dirty  gravel, 
And  we  chip  off  little  specimens  of  stone; 


EOBfNSON    CRUSOE'S    ISLAND.  H9 

And  we  carry   home  as  prizes 
Funny  bugs,   of  handy   sizes, 
Just  to  give  the  day   a  scientific  tone. 


If  the  roads  are  wet  and   muddy 

We   remain   at  home  and  study, — 
For  the    Goat  is  very  clever  at  a 

And  the  Dog,   instead  of  fighting, 

Studies   ornamental  writing, 
While  the    Cat  is  taking  lessons  on  the  drum. 

We  retire  at  eleven, 

And  we  rise  again  at  seven; 
And  I  wish   to  call  attention,   as  I  close , 

To  the  fact  that  all  the  scholars 

Are  correct  about  their  collars, 
And  particular  in  turning  out  their  toes. 

Here  Bobinson  called  out,  in  a  loud  voice,  w  First 
class  in  arithmetic!"  but  the  animals  sat  perfectly  motion- 
less, sedately  staring  at  him. 

"Oh!  by  the  way,"  said  Robinson,  confidentially  to 
Davy,  "this  is  the  first  class  in  arithmetic.  That's  the 
reason  they  didn't  move,  you  see.  Now,  then,"  he  con- 
tinued sharply,  addressing  the  class,  whow  many  halves 
are  there  in  a  whole? " 

There  was  a  dead  silence  for  a  moment,  and  then  the 
Cat  said  gravely,  "What  kind  of  a  hole?" 


120  DAVY    AND    THE    GOBLIN. 

"That  has  nothing  to  do  with  it,"  said  Robinson, 
impatiently. 

"  Oh !  hasn't  it,  though ! "  exclaimed  the  Dog,  scornfully. 
"I  should  think  a  big  hole  could  have  more  halves  in 
it  than  a  little  one." 

"  Well,  rather"  put  in  the    Parrot,  contemptuously. 

Here  the  Goat,  who  apparently  had  been  carefully 
thinking  the  matter  over,  said  in  a  low,  quavering  voice, 
"Must  all  the  halves  be  of  the  same  size?" 

"Certainly  not,"  said  Robinson,  promptly;  then,  nudging 
Davy  with  his  elbow,  he  whispered,  "  He's  bringing  his 
mind  to  bear  on  it.  He's  prodigious  when  he  gets 
started!" 

"Who  taught  him  arithmetic?"  said  Davy,  who  was 
beginning  to  think  Robinson  didn't  know  much  about 
it  himself. 

"Well,  the  fact  is,"  said  Robinson,  confidentially,  "he 
picked  it  up  from  an  old  Adder,  that  he  met  in  the 
woods." 

Jlere  the  Goat,  who  evidently  was  not  yet  quite  started, 
inquired,  "Must  all  the  halves  be  of  the  same  shape?'' 

"Not  at  all,"  said  Robinson,  cheerfully.  "Have  'em 
any  shape  you  like." 

"Then  I  give   it  up,"  said  the   Goat. 

"So   do    I,"   said  the  Dog. 

"And  I,"   said  the   Cat. 

"Me,   too,"   said   the  Parrot. 

"  Well  I"  exclaimed  Davy,  quite   out  of  patience.    "You 


EOBINSON    CRUSOE'S    ISLAND.  121 

are  certainly  the  stupidest  lot  of  creatures  I  ever 
saw." 

At  this  the  animals  stared  mournfully  at  him  for  a 
moment,  and  then  rose  up  and  walked  gravely  away. 

"Now  you've  spoiled  the  exercises,"  said  Robinson, 
peevishly.  "I'm  sorry  I  gave  'em  such  a  staggerer  to 
begin  with." 

"Pooh!"  said  Davy,  contemptuously.  "If  they  couldn't 
do  that  sum  they  couldn't  do  anything." 

Robinson  gazed  at  him  admiringly  for  a  moment,  and 
then,  looking  cautiously  about  him,  to  make  sure  that 
the  procession  was  out  of  hearing,  said  coaxingly:  — 

"What's  the  right  answer?  Tell  us,  like  a  good 
fellow." 

"Two,   of  course,"   said  Davy. 

"Is  that  all?"  exclaimed  Robinson,  in  a  tone  of  great 
astonishment. 

"  Certainly,"  said  Davy,  who  began  to  feel  very  proud 
of  his  learning.  "Don't  you  know  that  when  they  divide 
a  whole  into  four  parts  they  call  them  fourths,  and 
when  they  divide  it  into  two  parts  they  call  them 
halves?" 

"Why  don't  they  call  them  tooths?"  said  Robinson, 
obstinately.  "The  fact  is,  they  ought  to  call  'em  teeth. 
That's  what  puzzled  the  Goat.  Next  time  I'll  say,  <  How 
many  teeth  in  a  whole?" 

"Then  the  Cat  will  ask  if  it's  a  rat-hole,"  said  Davy, 
laughing  at  the  idea. 


122  DAVY    AND    THE    GOBLIN. 

wYou  positively  convulse  me,  you're  so  very  humorous," 
said  Robinson,  without  a  vestige  of  a  smile.  "  You're 
almost  as  droll  as  Friday  was.  He  used  to  call  the 
Goat  'Pat,'  because  he  said  he  was  a  little  butter.  I 
told  him  that  was  altogether  too  funny  for  a  lonely  place 
like  this,  and  he  went  away  and  joined  the  minstrels." 

Here  Robinson  suddenly  turned  pale,  and,  hastily  reach- 
ing out  for  his  gun,  sprang  to  his  feet. 

Davy  looked  out  to  sea,  and  saw  that  the  clock,  with 
the  Goblin  standing  in  the  stern,  had  come  in  sight  again, 
and  was  heading  directly  for  the  shore  with  tremendous 
speed.  The  poor  Goblin,  who  had  turned  sea-green  in 
color,  was  frantically  waving  his  hands  to  and  fro,  as  if 
motioning  for  the  beach  to  get  out  of  the  way;  and 
Davy  watched  his  approach  with  the  greatest  anxiety. 
Meanwhile  the  animals  had  mounted  on  four  sand-hills, 
and  were  solemnly  looking  on,  while  Robinson,  who 
seemed  to  have  run  out  of  tooth-powder,  was  hurriedly 
loading  his  gun  with  sand.  The  next  moment  the  clock 
struck  the  beach  with  great  force,  and,  turning  completely 
over  on  the  sand,  buried  the  Goblin  beneath  it.  Robin- 
son was  just  making  a  convulsive  effort  to  fire  off  his 
gun,  when  the  clock  began  striking  loudly,  jand  he  and 
the  animals  fled  in  ah  directions  in  the  wildest  dismay. 


A    WHALE    IN    A    WAISTCOAT.  123 

CHAPTER  XH. 

A    WHALE    IN    A    WAISTCOAT. 

DAVY  rushed  up  to  the  clock,  and,  pulling  open  the 
little  door  in  the  front  of  it,  looked  inside.  To  his  great 
disappointment  the  Goblin  had  again  disappeared,  and 
there  was  a  smooth,  round  hole  running  down  into  the 
sand,  as  though  he  had  gone  directly  through  the  beach. 
He  was  listening  at  this  hole,  in  the  hope  of  hearing 
from  the  Goblin,  when  a  voice  said,  "I  suppose  that's 
what  they  call  going  into  the  interior  of  the  country;" 
and,  looking  up,  he  saw  the  Hole-keeper  sitting  on  a 
little  mound  in  the  sand,  with  his  great  book  in  his 
lap. 

The  little  man  had  evidently  been  having  a  hard  time 
since  Davy  had  seen  him.  His  complexion  had  quite  lost 
its  beautiful  transparency,  and  his  jaunty  little  paper  tunic 
was  sadly  rumpled,  and,  moreover,  he  had  lost  his  cocked 
hat.  All  this,  however,  had  not  at  all  disturbed  his 
complacent  conceit ;  he  was,  if  anything,  more  pompous 
than  ever. 

"How  did  you  get  here?"  asked  Davy,  in  astonishment. 

"I'm  banished,"  said  the  Hole-keeper,  cheerfully.  "That's 
better  than  being  boiled,  any  day.  Did  you  give  Robin- 
eon  my  letter?" 


124  DAVY   AND    THE    GOBLIN. 

"Yes,  I  did,"  said  Davy,  as  they  walked  along  the 
beach  together;  "but  I  got  it  very  wet  coming  here." 

"That  was  quite  right,"  said  the  Hole-keeper.  "There's 
nothing  so  tiresome  as  a  dry  letter.  Well,  I  suppose 
Robinson  is  expecting  me  by  this  time,  isn't  he  ? " 

"I  don't  know,  I'm  sure,"  said  Davy.  "He  didn't  say 
that  he  was  expecting  you." 

"He  must  be,"  said  the  Hole-keeper,  positively.  "I 
never  even  mentioned  it  in  my  letter;  so,  of  course,  he'll 
know  I'm  coming.  By  the  way,"  he  added,  hurriedly 
opening  his  book,  and  staring  anxiously  at  one  of  the 
blank  pages,  "  there  isn't  a  word  in  here  about  Billy- 
weazles.  This  place  must  be  full  of  Jem." 

"What  are   they?"    said  Davy. 

"  They're  great  pink  birds,  without  any  feathers  on  'em," 
replied  the  Hole-keeper,  solemnly.  "And  they're  particu- 
larly fond  of  sugar.  That's  the  worst  thing  about  'em." 

"I  don't  think  there's  anything  very  wicked  in  that," 
said  Davy. 

"Oh!  of  course  you  don't,"  said  the  Hole-keeper,  fret- 
fully. "  But  you  see  I  haven't  any  trowsers  on,  and  I 
don't  fancy  having  a  lot  of  strange  Billyweazles  nibbling 
at  my  legs.  In  fact,  if  you  don't  mind,  I'd  like  to  run 
away  from  here." 

"Very  well,"  said  Davy,  who  was  himself  beginning  to 
feel  rather  nervous  about  the  Billyweazles,  and  accord- 
ingly he  and  the  Hole-keeper  started  off  along  the  beach 
as  fast  as  they  could  run. 


A    WHALE    IN    A    WAISTCOAT.  125 

Presently  the  Hole-keeper  stopped  short  and  said,  faintly, 
"It  strikes  me  the  sun  is  very  hot  here." 

The  sun  certainly  was  very  hot,  and  Davy,  looking  at 
the  Hole-keeper  as  he  said  this,  saw  that  his  face  was 
gradually  and  very  curiously  losing  its  expression,  and 
that  his  nose  had  almost  entirely  disappeared. 

"  What's  the   matter?"  inquired  Davy,   anxiously. 

"The  matter  is  that  I'm  going  back  into  the  raw  ma- 
terial," said  the  Hole-keeper,  dropping  his  book,  and 
sitting  down  helplessly  in  the  sand.  "See  here,  Frinkles," 
he  continued,  beginning  to  speak  very  thickly;  "wrap 
me  up  in  my  shirt  and  mark  the  packish  distingly.  Take 
off  shir  quigly ! "  and  Davy  had  just  time  to  pull  the 
poor  creature's  shirt  over  his  head  and  spread  it  quickly 
on  the  beach,  when  the  Hole-keeper  fell  down,  rolled 
over  upon  the  garment,  and,  bubbling  once  or  twice,  as 
if  he  were  boiling,  melted  away  into  a  compact  lump  of 
brown  sugar. 

Davy  was  deeply  affected  by  this  sad  incident,  and, 
though  he  had  never  really  liked  the  Hole-keeper,  he 
could  hardly  keep  back  his  tears  as  he  wrapped  up  the 
lump  in  the  paper  shirt  and  laid  it  carefully  on  the  big 
book.  In  fact,  he  was  so  disturbed  in  his  mind  that  he 
was  on  the  point  of  going  away  without  marking  the 
package,  when,  looking  over  his  shoulder,  he  suddenly 
caught  sight  of  the  Cockalorum  standing  close  beside 
him,  carefully  holding  an  inkstand,  with  a  pen  in  it,  in 
one  of  his  claws. 


126 


DAVY    AND     THE    GOBLIN. 


f?Oh!  thank  you  very  much,"  said  Davy,  taking  the 
pen  and  dipping  it  in  the  ink.  "And  will  you  please 
tell  me  his  name?" 

The  Cockalorum,  who  still  had  his  head  done  up  in 
flannel,  and  was  looking  rather  ill,  paused  for  a  moment 
to  reflect,  and  then  murmured,  "  Mark  him  '  Confection- 
ery.'" 

This  struck  Davy  as  being  a  very  happy  idea,  and  he 
accordingly  printed  "  CONTEXTONRY  "  on  the  package  in 


"THE  COCKALORUM  CAREFULLY  INSPECTED  THE  MARKING." 

his  very  best  manner.  The  Cockalorum,  with  his  head 
turned  critically  on  one  side,  carefully  inspected  the  mark- 
ing, and  then,  after  earnestly  gazing  for  a  moment  at 
the  inkstand,  gravely  drank  the  rest  of  the  ink  and 
offered  the  empty  inkstand  to  Davy. 

"I    don't    want    it,    thank    you,"    said    Davy,    stepping 
back. 


A    WHALE    IN    A     WAISTCOAT.  129 

"  No  more  do  I,"  murmured  the  Cockalorum,  and,  toss- 
ing the  inkstand  into  the  sea,  flew  away  in  his  usual 
clumsy  fashion. 

Davy,  after  a  last  mournful  look  at  the  package  of 
brown  sugar,  turned  away,  and  was  setting  oif  along  the 
beach  again,  when  he  heard  a  gurgling  sound  coming 
from  behind  a  great  hummock  of  sand,  and,  peeping  cau- 
tiously around  one  end  of  it,  he  was  startled  at  seeing 
an  enormous  whale  lying  stretched  out  on  the  sand 
basking  in  the  sun,  and  lazily  fanning  himself  with  the 
flukes  of  his  tail.  The  great  creature  had  on  a  huge 
white  garment,  buttoned  up  in  front,  with  a  lot  of  live 
seals  flopping  and  wriggling  at  one  of  the  button-holes, 
and  with  a  great  chain  cable  leading  from  them  to  a 
pocket  at  one  side.  Before  Davy  could  retreat  the 
"Whale  caught  sight  of  him  and  called  out,  in  a  tre- 
mendous voice,  "How  d'ye  do,  Bub?" 

"I'm  pretty  well,  I  thank  you,"  said  Davy,  with  his 
usual  politeness  to  man  and  beast.  "How  are  you, 
sir?  " 

"Hearty!"  thundered  the  Whale;  "never  felt  better  in 
all  my  life.  But  it's  rather  warm  lying  here  in  the 
sun." 

"  Why  don't  you  take  off  your  "  —  Here  Davy  stopped, 
not  knowing  exactly  what  it  was  the  Whale  had  on. 

"Waistcoat,"  said  the  Whale,  condescendingly.  "It's  a 
canvas-back-duck  waistcoat.  The  front  of  it  is  made  of 
wild  duck,  you  see,  and  the  back  of  it  out  of  the  fore' 


130  DAVY    AND     THE    GOBLIN. 

top-sail  of  a  brig.  IVe  heard  they  always  hnve 
watches  on  board  of  ships,  but  I  couldn't  find  any  on 
this  one,  so  I  had  to  satisfy  myself  with  a  bit  of  chain 
cable  by  way  of  a  watch-guard.  I  think  this  bunch  of 
seals  rather  sets  it  off,  don't  you?" 

"Yes,  rather,"  said  Davy,  doubtfully;  "only  they  slobber 
so." 

"Ah,  that  reminds  me  that  it's  wash-day,"  said  the 
Whale;  and  here  he  spouted  a  great  stream  of  water 
out  of  the  top  of  his  head  and  let  it  run  down  in  a 
little  cascade  all  over  the  front  of  his  waistcoat.  The 
seals  seemed  to  enjoy  this  amazingly,  and  flopped  about 
hi  an  ecstasy. 

"  What  do  whales  eat? "  said  Davy,  who  thought  it 
was  a  good  time  for  picking  up  a  little  information. 

"  Warious  whales  wants  warious  wiands,"  replied  the 
Whale.  "  That's  an  old  sea-saw,  you  know.  For  my  part 
I'm  particularly  fond  of  small  buoys." 

"I  don't  think  that  is  a  very  nice  taste,"  said  Davy, 
beginning  to  feel  very  uneasy. 

"Oh!  don't  be  frightened,"  bellowed  the  Whale,  good- 
naturedly.  "  I  don't  mean  live  boys.  I  mean  the  little  red 
things  that  float  about  in  the  water.  Some  of  'em  have 
lights  on  'em,  and  them  are  particularly  nice  and 
crisp." 

"Is  it  nice  being  a  Whale?"  said  Davy,  who  was 
anxious  to  change  the  subject. 

w  Famous  1 "     said    the     Whale,    with     an     affable    roar. 


A    WHALE    IN    A    WAISTCOAT.  133 

*  Great  fun,  I  assure  you !  We  have  fish-balls  every 
night,  you  know." 

"Fish-balls  at  night!"  exclaimed  Davy.  "Why,  we 
always  have  ours  for  breakfast." 

"  Nonsense !  "  thundered  the  Whale,  with  a  laugh  that 
made  the  beach  quake;  "I  don't  mean  anything  to  eat. 
I  mean  dancing  parties." 

rr  And  do  you  dance  ? "  said  Davy,  thinking  that  if  he 
did  it  must  be  a  very  extraordinary  performance. 

"Dance?"  said  the  Whale,  with  a  reverberating  chuckle. 
''Bless  you!  I'm  as  nimble  as  a  sixpence.  By  the  way 
I'll  show  you  the  advantage  of  having  a  bit  of  whale- 
bone in  one's  composition; "  and  with  these  words  the 
Whale  curled  himself  up,  then  flattened  out  suddenly  with 
a  tremendous  flop,  and,  shooting  through  the  air  like  a 
flying  elephant,  disappeared  with  a  great  splash  in  the 
sea. 

Davy  stood  anxiously  watching  the  spot  where  he  went 
down,  in  the  hope  that  he  would  come  up  again;  but  he 
soon  discovered  that  the  Whale  had  gone  for  good.  The 
sea  was  violently  tossed  about  for  a  few  moments,  and 
then  began  circling  out  into  great  rings  around  the  spot 
where  the  Whale  had  gone  down.  These  soon  disappeared, 
however,  and  the  water  resumed  its  lazy  ebb  and  flow  upon 
the  shore;  and  Davy,  feeling  quite  lonesome  and  deserted, 
sat  down  on  the  sand,  and  gazed  mournfully  out  upon 
the  sea. 


134  DAVY    AND     THE    QOBLIN. 


CHAPTER    XT!!. 

THE    TALKING    WAVES,   AND    THE    OLD     SEA-DOG. 

WI  WONDER  why  the  ocean  doesn't  keep  still  sometimes, 
and  not  be  moving  its  edge  about  all  the  time,"  said  Davy, 
after  watching  the  waves  that  constantly  rolled  up  on 
the  beach  and  then  rolled  back  again,  looking  like  creamy 
soap-suds. 

"That  wouldn't  do  at  all!"  said  a  Wave  that  rolled 
almost  up  to  his  feet.  "The  beach  gets  mussed,  you  see, 
and  we  have  to  smooth  it  off  again.  The  sea  is  always 
tidy;"  and  here  the  Wave  broke  with  a  little,  murmuring 
laugh,  and  rolled  back  again,  all  in  a  foam. 

Davy  was  so  astonished  that  it  almost  took  away  his 
breath.  A  talking  Wave  was  certainly  the  most  mar- 
vellous thing  he  had  met  with,  and  in  an  instant  he  was 
lying  flat  on  his  face,  trembling  with  eagerness,  and  wait- 
ing for  the  next  Wave  to  roll  up  on  the  shore. 

It  came  in  a  moment,  and  gently  whispered,  "If  we 
didn't  wet  the  sand  once  in  a  while  there  wouldn't  be 
any  nuts  on  the  beach-trees,  —  no  nuts  on  the  trees,  and 
no  shells  on  the  shore;"  and  here  this  Wave  broke  in 
its  turn  into  foam,  and  ran  back  into  the  sea. 

w  This  is  perfectly   delicious!"   said  Davy,  joyfully,   and 


TALKING    WAVES,    AND     OLD    SEA-DOG.  135 

as  the  next  Wave  rolled  up  to  him  he  softly  asked,  "  Do 
you  know  the  Whale?" 

"Know  him!"  cried  the  Wave,  passionately;  "I  should 
think  I  did!  Many  a  time  I've  been  spanked  by  his  horrid 
old  tail.  The  nasty,  blundering,  floundering,  walloping 
old " —  and  here  the  end  of  the  sentence  dribbled  away 
in  a  sort  of  washy  whisper. 

"  Such  a  mouth ! "  said  the  next  Wave,  taking  up  the 
story.  "Like  a  fishing-smack  lined  with  red  morocco  I 
And  such  a  temper !  I  wouldn't  be  so  crusty  for  all "  — 
but  just  here  the  Wave  toppled  over  as  usual,  and  the 
rest  of  the  sentence  ran  back  into  the  sea. 

"Once,"  said  the  next  Wave,  still  scolding  about  the 
Whale,  —  "once  he  got  so  far  up  on  the  shore  that  he 
couldn't  get  back  into  the  water  for  a  long  time,  and 
he  blamed  me  for  it,  and  called  me  names.  He  said  I 
was  a  mean,  low  tide ; "  but  just  as  Davy  was  eagerly 
listening  for  the  rest  of  the  story  this  Wave,  like  the 
rest,  broke  into  foam  and  washed  away. 

"  It's  really  too  ridiculous,  the  way  they  break  off  their 
sentences!  "  cried  Davy,  impatiently. 

"  Is  it,  indeed ! "  said  a  big  Wave,  coming  in  with  a 
rush.  "Perhaps  you'd  like  to  get  acquainted  with  an 
angry  sea ! " 

It  was  an  angry  sea,  indeed;  for,  as  the  Wave  said  this, 
the  ocean  was  suddenly  lashed  into  fury,  the  water  rose 
into  huge,  green  billows  that  came  tossing  up  on  the 
shore,  and  Davy,  scrambling  to  his  feet,  ran  for  his  life. 


136  DAVY   AND    THE    GOBLIN. 

The  air  was  filled  with  flying  spray,  and  he  could  hear 
the  roar  of  the  water  coming  on  behind  him  with  a 
mighty  rush  as  he  ran  across  the  beach,  not  daring  to 
stop  until  he  found  himself  out  of  reach  of  the  angry 
ocean,  on  a  high  bluff  of  sand.  Here  he  stopped,  quite 
out  of  breath,  and  looked  back. 

The  wind  was  blowing  fiercely,  and  a  cloud  of  spray 
was  dashed  in  his  face  as  he  turned  toward  it,  and 
presently  the  ah*  was  filled  with  lobsters,  eels,  and 
wriggling  fishes  that  were  being  carried  inshore  by  the 
gale.  Suddenly,  to  Davy's  astonishment,  a  dog  came 
sailing  along.  He  was  being  helplessly  blown  about 
among  the  lobsters,  uneasily  jerking  his  tail  from  side 
to  side  to  keep  it  out  of  reach  of  their  great  claws, 
and  giving  short,  nervous  barks  from  time  to  time, 
as  though  he  were  firing  signal-guns  of  distress.  In 
fact,  he  seemed  to  be  having  such  a  hard  time  of 
it  that  Davy  caught  him  by  the  ear  as  he  was 
going  by,  and  landed  him  in  safety  on  the  beach. 
He  proved  to  be  a  very  shaggy,  battered-looking  ani- 
mal, in  an  old  pea-jacket,  with  a  weather-beaten  tar- 
paulin hat  jammed  on  the  side  of  his  head,  and  a 
patch  over  one  eye;  altogether  he  was  the  most  extraor- 
dinary-looking animal  that  could  be  imagined,  and  Davy 
stood  staring  at  him,  and  wondering  what  sort  of  a  dog 
he  was. 

w  Are  you  a  pointer? "  he  said  at  last,  by  way  of 
opening  conversation. 


TALKING    WAVES,    AND     OLD    SEA-DOG. 


137 


"Not  I,"  said  the  Dog,  sulkily.  "It's  rude  to  point. 
Pm  an  old  Sea-Dog,  come  ashore  in  a  gale." 

Here  he  stared  doubtfully  at  Davy  for  a  moment,  and 
then  said,  in  a  husky  voice:  — 

"  What's  the  difference  between  a  dog-watch  and  a 
watch-dog?  It's  a  conundrum." 


DAVT    ASSISTS    THE    OLD    SEA-DOG. 


"I  don't  know,"  said  Davy,  who  would  have  laughed 
if  he  had  not  been  a  little  afraid  of  the  Dog. 

"A  dog-watch  keeps  a  watching  on  a  bark,"  said  the 
old  Sea- Dog;  "and  a  watch-dog  keeps  a  barking  on  a 
watch."  Here  he  winked  at  Davy,  and  said,  "What's 
your  name? "  as  if  he  had  just  mentioned  his  own. 

"  Davy "  —  began  the   little  boy,  but  before   he  could  say 


138  DAVY    AND     THE    GOBLIN. 

another  word  the  old  Sea-Dog  growled,  "Eight  you  are!* 
and,  handing  him  a  folded  paper,  trotted  gravely  away, 
swaggering,  as  he  went,  like  a  seafaring  man. 

The  paper  was  addressed  to  "  Davy  Jones"  and  was 
headed  inside,  " Binnacle  Bob :  His  werses;  "  and  below  these 
words  Davy  found  the  following  story:  — 

To  inactivity   inclined 

Was    Captain  Parker  Pitch's  mind; 
In  point  of  fact,   'twas  fitted  for 
A  sedentary   life   ashore. 

His   disposition,   so  to  speak, 
Was  nautically  soft  and  weak; 
He  feared  the  rolling   ocean,  and 
He  very  much  preferred  the  land. 

A  stronger-minded  man  by  far 
Was  gallant    Captain    Tfiompson  Tar; 
And   (what  was  very  wrong,   I  think) 
He  marked  himself  with   India   ink. 

He  boldly  sailed  the  "  Soaking  Sue " 
When   angry  gales  and  tempests  blew. 
And  even  from  the  nor-nor-east 
He   didn't  mind  'em  in   the  least. 

Now,    Captain  Parker  Pitch's  sloop 
Was  called  the  "  Cozy    Chickencoop"— 
A  truly  comfortable  craft, 
With  ample  state-rooms  fore  and  aft. 


TALKING    WAVES,    AND     OLD    SEA-DOG. 

JVo  foolish   customs   of  the  deep, 

Like  "watches,"  robbed  his  crew   of  sleep; 

That  estimable  lot  of  men 

Were  all  in  bed  at  half-past  ten. 

At  seven  bells,   one  stormy  day, 
Bold   Captain    Tar  came   by   that  way, 
And  in  a  voice  extremely  coarse 
He  roared   "Ahoy!"  till  he  was  hoarse. 

Next  morning,   of  his  own  accord, 
This  able  seaman  came  aboard, 
And  made  the  following  remark 
Concerning    Captain   fitch's  bark:  — 

"Avast!"  says  he,   "  Belay  I    What  cheer! 
How  comes  this   little  wessel  here? 
Come,  tumble  up  your  crew,"  says  he, 
"And  navigate  a  bit  with   me!" 

Says    Captain  Pitch,   "/   can't  refuse 
To  join  you  on   a  friendly  cruise; 
But  you'll  oblige  me,    Captain    Tar, 
By  not  a- taking  of  me  far." 

At  this  reply  from    Captain    Pitch, 
Bold    Thompson  gave  himself  a  hitch, 
It  cut  him   to   the  heart  to  find 
A  seaman  in  this  frame  of  mind. 


140  DAVY    AND     THE    GOBLIN. 

*  Avast!"  Kays  he;    *  we'll  bear  away 
For  Madagascar  and  Bombay, 
Then  down  the  coast  to    Yucatan, 
ITamtschatka,    Guinea,   and  Japan. 

"Stand  of  for  Egypt,    Turkey,    Spain, 
Australia,   and  the   Spanish  Main, 
Then  through  the  nor-west  passage  for 
Van  Dieman's   Land  and  Labrador." 


Says   Captain  Pitch,    "  The   ocean  swell 
Makes   me  exceedingly  unwell, 
And,    Captain   Tar,  before  we  start, 
Pray  join  me  in  a  friendly   tart.n 

And  shall  I  go   and  take  and  hide 
The  sneaking  trick  that  Parker  tried* 
Oh!  no.     I  very  much  prefer 
To  slate  his  actions  as    they  were: 


TALKING    WAVES,    AND     OLD    SEA-DOG. 

With   marmalade   he  first  began 
To  tempt  that   bluff  seafaring   man. 
Then  fed  him   all  the   afternoon 
With  custard  in    a   table-spoon. 

No   mariner,  however   tough, 
Can   thrive   upon  this   kind   of  stuff; 
And    TJiompson  soon   appeared   to   be 
A  feeble-minded  child   of  three. 


He  cried  for  calces  and  lollipops; 
He  played  with   dolls   and  humming-tops; 
He  even  ceased  to  roar  ' 'I'm  blowed!" 
And  shook  a  rattle,  laughed,  and  crowed. 

When   Parker  saw   the  seamen  gaze 

Upon   the  captain's   cunning  ways, 

Base   envy   thrilled  him   through   and  through, 

And  he  became  a   child  of  two. 


142  DAVY    AND     THE    GOBLIN. 


7,  Parker  had  in   his   employ 
A  mate,  two  seamen,  and  a  boy; 
The  mate  was  fond  as  he  could  be 
Of  babies,   and  he  says,   says  he, — 

"  Why,   messmates,   as  we're  all  agreed 
Sea-bathing   is  the  thing   they  need, 
Let's  drop   these  hinfants  of  the  quarter /' 
(They  did,  in  fourteen  fathom  water). 


—  and  here  the  story  came  abruptly  to  an  end. 

Davy  was  quite  distressed  at  this,  particularly  as  the 
dreadful  thought  came  into  his  mind  that  some  babies 
do  not  know  how  to  swim,  and  he  was  therefore  very 
well  satisfied  when  he  saw  that  the  old  Sea-Dog  had 
apparently  changed  his  mind  about  going  away,  and  was 
swaggering  along  toward  him  again. 

"If  you  please,"  said  Davy,  as  the  surly  creature  came 
within  hearing  distance,  —  "if  you  please,  sir,  were  the 
two  little  captains  drowned?" 

"Well,  sticking,  as  it  were,  to  the  truth,  they  were 
not,"  replied  the  old  Sea-Dog,  very  gruffly. 

"  Then,  why  don't  you  say  so  in  the  story  ? "  said 
Davy. 

Now,  this  was  pretty  bold  of  him,  for  old  Sea-Dogs  don't 
much  like  to  have  fault  found  with  their  verses,  and  this 
particular  old  Sea-Dog  evidently  did  not  like  it  at  all, 
for,  after  staring  at  Davy  for  a  moment,  he  began  walk- 


TALKING    WAVES,    AND    OLD    SEA-DOG.  143 

ing  slowly  around  him  in  such  a  threatening  manner  that 
Davy,  thinking  that  perhaps  he  meant  to  jump  on  him  from 
behind,  began  also  turning  so  as  to  keep  his  face  always 
toward  the  Dog.  Meanwhile,  as  you  may  well  believe, 
he  began  to  feel  very  sorry  that  he  had  said  anything 
about  the  verses. 

Presently  the  old  Sea-Dog  broke  into  a  clumsy  canter, 
like  a  weary  old  circus  horse,  and  as  he  went  heavily  around 
the  circle  he  began  to  explain  about  the  story.  "  You 
see  there's  more  of  it,"  said  he,  wheezing  dreadfully  as  he 
galloped;  "but  then  I  haven't  had  the  time  to  put  the 
rest  of  it  in  rhyme.  It's  all  about  old  Thompson's  crew 
as  stayed  aboard  the  ?  Soaking  Sue,'  and  saw  the  skippers 
floating  by  and  hauled  'em  out  and  got  'em  dry,  and 
when  the  little  creeturs  cried  they  gave  'em  something 
warm  inside,  and  being  as  they  had  no  bed  they  stowed 
'em  in  a  bunk  instead, "  —  but  just  at  this  moment  the 
old  Sea-Dog,  who  had  been  constantly  increasing  his 
speed,  disappeared  in  a  most  extraordinary  manner  in  a 
whirling  cloud  of  sand,  and  Davy,  who  was  by  this  time 
spinning  around  like  a  teetotum,  discovered  that  he  himself 
was  rapidly  boring  his  way,  like  a  big  screw,  down  into 
the  beach.  This  was,  of  course,  a  very  alarming  state  of 
things;  but,  before  Davy  could  make  an  effort  to  free 
himself,  the  whirling  cloud  of  sand  burst  upon  him  with  a 
loud,  roaring  sound  like  the  sea,  and  he  felt  himself  going 
directly  down  through  the  beach,  with  the  sand  pouring  in 
upon  him  as  if  he  had  been  inside  of  a  huge  hour-glass. 


144  DAVY    AND     THE     GOBLIN. 

He  had  just  time  to  notice  that,  instead  of  scraping  him, 
the  sand  had  a  delightful  ticklesome  feeling  about  it,  when 
he  went  completely  through  the  beach,  and  landed,  with  a 
gentle  thump,  flat  on  his  Duck,  witn  tall  grass  waving 
about  him. 


THE    END    OF    THE    BELIEVING    VOYAGE.  145 

CHAPTER  XIV. 

THE    END    OP    THE    BELIEVING    VOYAGE. 

WHEN  Davy  sat  up  and  looked  around  him  he  found 
himself  in  a  beautiful  meadow,  with  the  sun  shining 
brightly  on  the  grass  and  the  wild  flowers.  The  air  was 
filled  with  dainty-colored  insects,  darting  about  in  the 
warm  sunshine,  and  chirping  cheerily  as  they  flew,  and 
at  a  little  distance  the  Goblin  was  sitting  on  the  grass, 
attentively  examining  a  great,  struggling  creature  that 
he  was  holding  down  by  its  wings. 

"I  suppose,"  said  the  Goblin,  as  if  Davy's  sudden 
appearance  was  the  most  ordinary  thing  in  the  world, — 
"  I  suppose  that  this  is  about  the  funniest  bug  that 
flies." 

"What  is   it?"   said  Davy,   cautiously   edging   away. 

"It's  a  Cricket-Bat,"  said  the  Goblin,  rapping  familiarly 
with  his  knuckles  on  its  hard  shell.  "His  body  is  like 
a  boot-jack,  and  his  wings  are  like  a  pair  of  umbrellas." 

"But,  you  know,  a  Cricket-Bat  is  something  to  play 
with!"  said  Davy,  surprised  at  the  Goblin's  ignorance. 

"Well,  you  may  play  with  it  if  you  like.  I  don't 
want  to,"  said  the  Goblin,  carelessly  tossing  the  great 
creature  over  to  Davy,  and  walking  away. 

The   Cricket-Bat  made   a  swoop  at  Davy,  knocking  him 


146  DAVY    AND     THE     OOBLIN. 

over  like  a  feather,  and  then,  with  a  loud  snort,  flew 
away  across  the  meadow.  It  dashed  here  and  there  at 
flying  things  of  every  kind,  and,  turning  on  its  side,, 
knocked  them,  one  after  another,  quite  out  of  sight, 
until,  to  Davy's  delight,  the  Cockalorum  came  into  view, 
flying  across  the  meadow  in  his  usual  blundering  fashion. 
At  sight  of  him  the  Cricket-Bat  gave  another  triumphant 
snort,  and  with  a  wild  plunge  at  the  great  creature 
knocked  him  floundering  into  the  tall  grass,  and  with  a 
loud,  whirring  sound  disappeared  in  a  distant  wood. 

Davy  ran  to  the  spot  where  the  Cockalorum  had  fallen, 
and  found  him  sitting  helplessly  in  the  grass,  looking 
dreadfully  rumpled,  and  staring  about  confusedly,  as  if 
wondering  what  had  happened  to  him.  As  Davy  came 
running  up  he  murmured,  in  a  reproachful  way,  "Oh! 
it's  you,  is  it?  Well,  then,  I  don't  want  any  more  of  it." 

"Upon  my  word  I  didn't  do  it,"  cried  Davy,  trying 
to  keep  from  laughing.  "It  was  the  Cricket-Bat." 

"And  what  did  he  want?"  murmured  the  Cockalorum, 
very  sadly. 

"Oh!  he  was  only  having  a  game  of  cricket  with 
you,"  said  Davy,  soothingly.  "  You  were  the  ball,  you 
know." 

The  Cockalorum  pondered  over  this  for  a  moment,  and 
then  murmuring,  "I  prefer  croquet,"  floundered  away 
through  the  waving  grass.  Davy,  who  for  once  felt  sorry 
for  the  ridiculous  old  creature,  was  just  setting  off  after 
him,  when  a  voice  cried,  "Come  on!  Come  on!"  and 


THE    END     OF    THE    BELIEVING     VOYAGE.  147 

Davy,  looking  across  the  meadow,  saw  the  Goblin  beck- 
oning vigorously  to  him,  apparently  in  great  excitement. 

"What's  the  matter?"  cried  Davy,  pushing  his  way 
through  the  thick  grass. 

"Oh,  my!  oh,  my!"  shrieked  the  Goblin,  who  was 
almost  bursting  with  laughter.  "Here's  that  literary  hack 
*  gain ! " 

Davy  peered  through  a  clump  of  bushes,  and  discovered 
a  large  red  animal,  with  white  spots  on  its  sides,  clumsily 
rummaging  about  in  the  tall  grass  and  weeds.  Its 
appearance  was  so  formidable  that  he  was  just  about 
whispering  to  the  Goblin,  "  Let's  run !  "  when  the  monster 
raised  its  head,  and,  after  gazing  about  for  an  instant, 
gave  a  loud,  triumphant  whistle. 

"  Why,  it's  Ribsy ! "  cried  Davy,  running  forward. 
"It's  Ribsy,  only  he's  grown  enormously  fat." 

It  was  Ribsy,  indeed,  eating  with  all  his  might,  and 
with  his  skin  so  stretched  by  his  extreme  fatness  that 
the  hair  stood  straight  up  all  over  it  like  a  brush.  The 
name  on  his  side  was  twisted  about  beyond  all  hope  of 
making  it  out,  and  his  collar  had  quite  disappeared  in  a 
deep  crease  about  his  neck.  In  fact,  his  whole  appear- 
ance was  so  alarming  that  Davy  anxiously  inquired  of 
him  what  he  had  been  eating. 

"Everything!"  said  Ribsy,  enthusiastically,  —  "grass, 
nuts,  bugs,  birds,  and  berries!  All  of  'em  taste  good. 
I  could  eat  both  of  you  easily,"  he  added,  glaring  hun- 
grily down  upon  Davy  and  the  Goblin. 


148  DAVY    AND     THE    GOBLIN. 

"Try  that  fellow  first,"  said  the  Goblin,  pointing  to  a 
large,  round  insect  that  went  flying  by,  humming  like  a 
top.  Ribsy  snapped  at  it,  and  swallowed  it,  and  the 
next  instant  disappeared  with  a  tremendous  explosion  in 
a  great  cloud  of  smoke. 

"What   was   that?"    said   Davy,   in   a    terrified   whisper. 

"A  Hum  Bug,"  said  the  Goblin,  calmly.  "When  a 
cab-horse  on  a  vacation  talks  about  eating  you,  a  Hum 
Bug  is  a  pretty  good  thing  to  take  the  conceit  out  of 
him.  They're  loaded,  you  see,  and  they  go  booming 
along  as  innocently  as  you  please;  but  if  you  touch  'em 
—  why,  ? There  you  aren't!'  as  the  Hole-keeper  says." 

"The  Hole-keeper  isn't  himself  any  more,"  said  Davy, 
mournfully. 

"Not  altogether  himself,  but  somewhat,"  said  a  voice; 
and  Davy,  looking  around,  was  astonished  to  find  the 
Hole-keeper  standing  beside  him.  He  was  a  most  extraor- 
dinary-looking object,  being  nothing  but  Davy's  parcel 
marked,  "  CONFEXIONRY,"  with  arms  and  legs  and  a  head 
to  it.  At  the  sight  of  him  the  Goblin  fell  flat  on  his 
back,  and  covered  his  face  with  his  hands. 

"I'm  quite  aware  that  my  appearance  is  not  prepossess- 
ing," said  the  Hole-keeper,  with  a  scornful  look  at  the 
Goblin.  "In  fact,  I'm  nothing  but  a  quarter  of  a  pound 
of  *  plain?  and  the  price  isn't  worth  mentioning." 

"But  how  did  you  ever  come  to  be  alive  again,  at  all?" 
said  Davy. 

"Well,"  said  the  Hole-keeper,  "the   truth  of  the   matter 


THE    END     OF    THE    BELIEVING     VOYAGE.  149 

is,  that  after  you  went  away  the  Cockalorum  fell  to 
reading  the  Vacuum;  and,  if  you'll  believe  it,  there  wasn't 
a  word  in  it  about  my  going  back  into  the  raw  mate- 
rial." 

"I  do  believe  that,"  said  Davy;  but  the  Hole-keeper, 
without  noticing  the  interruption,  went  on :  — 

"  Then,  of  course,  I  got  up  and  came  away.  Mean- 
while the  Cockalorum  is  gorging  himself  with  informa- 
tion." 

"I  saw  him  just  now,"  said  Davy,  laughing,  "and  he 
didn't  act  as  if  he  had  learned  anything  very  lately.  I 
don't  think  he'll  find  much  ;ji  your  book; "  and  here  he 
went  off  into  another  fit  of  laughter. 

"Ah!  but  just  think  of  the  lots  and  lots  of  things  he 
won't  find,"  exclaimed  the  Hole-keeper.  "Everything  he 
doesn't  find  in  it  is  something  worth  knowing.  By  the 
way,  your  friend  seems  to  be  having  some  sort  of  a  fit. 
Give  him  some  dubbygrums ; "  and  with  this  the  Hole- 
keeper  stalked  pompously  away. 

"The  smell  of  sugar  always  gives  me  the  craw-craws," 
said  the  Goblin,  in  a  stifled  voice,  rolling  on  the  ground 
and  keeping  his  hands  over  his  face.  "Get  me  some 
water." 

"I  haven't  anything  to  get  it  in,"  said  Davy,  help- 
lessly. 

"  There's  a  buttercup  behind  you,"  groaned  the  Goblin, 
and  Davy,  turning,  saw  a  buttercup  growing  on  a  stem 
almost  as  tali  as  he  was  himself.  He  picked  it,  and 


150  DAVY    AND     THE     GOBLIN. 

hurried  away  across  the  meadow  to  look  for  water,  the 
buttercup,  meanwhile,  growing  in  his  hand  in  a  surpris- 
ing manner,  until  it  became  a  full-sized  teacup,  with  a 
handle  conveniently  growing  on  one  side.  Davy,  however, 
had  become  so  accustomed  to  this  sort  of  thing  that  he 
would  not  have  been  greatly  surprised  if  a  saucer  had 
also  made  its  appearance. 

Presently  he  came  upon  a  sparkling  little  spring,  gently 
bubbling  up  in  a  marshy  place,  with  high,  sedgy  grass 
growing  about  it,  and  being  a  very  neat  little  boy  he 
took  off  his  shoes  and  stockings,  and  carefully  picked  his 
way  over  the  oozy  ground  to  the  edge  of  the  spring 
itself.  He  was  just  bending  over  to  dip  the  cup  into  the 
spring,  when  the  ground  under  his  feet  began  trembling 
like  jelly,  and  then,  giving  itself  a  convulsive  shake,  threw 
him  head-foremost  into  the  water. 

For  a  moment  Davy  had  a  very  curious  sensation,  as 
though  his  head  and  his  arms  and  his  legs  were  all 
trying  to  get  inside  of  his  jacket,  and  then  he  came 
sputtering  to  the  top  of  the  water  and  scrambled  ashore. 
To  his  astonishment  he  saw  that  the  spring  had  spread 
itself  out  into  a  little  lake,  and  that  the  sedge-grass  had 
grown  to  an  enormous  height,  and  was  waving  far  above 
his  head.  Then  he  was  startled  by  a  tremendous  roar  of 
laughter,  and,  looking  around,  he  saw  the  Goblin,  who 
was  now  apparently  at  least  twenty  feet  high,  standing 
beside  the  spring. 

wOh,  lor  I    Oh,    lor!"    cried    the    Goblin,   in    an    uncon- 


DAVT    FALLS    IlfTO    THE    ELASTIC    SPRING. 


THE    END     OF     THE    BELIEVING     VOYAGE.          153 

trollable    fit    of    merriment.        "Another    minute    and    you 
wouldn't  have   been  bigger  than   a   peanut!" 

"  What's  the  matter  with  me? "  said  Davy,  not  knowing 
what  to  make  of  it  all. 

"Matter?"  cried  the  Goblin.  "Why,  you've  been  and 
gone  and  fallen  into  an  Elastic  Spring,  that's  all.  If  you'd 
got  in  at  stretch  tide,  early  in  the  morning,  you'd  have 
been  a  perfect  giraffe;  but  you  got  in  at  shrink  tide  and 
—  oh,  my !  oh,  my !  "  and  here  he  went  off  into  another 
fit  of  laughter. 

f'I  don't  think  it's  anything  to  laugh  at,"  cried  Davy, 
with  the  tears  starting  to  his  eyes,  "  and  I'm  sure  I  don't 
know  what  I'm  going  to  do." 

"  Oh !  don't  worry,"  said  the  Goblin,  good-naturedly. 
"I'll  take  a  dip  myself,  just  to  be  companionable,  and  to- 
morrow morning  we  can  get  back  to  any  size  you  like." 

"I  wish  you'd  take  these  things  in  with  you,"  said 
Davy,  pointing  to  his  shoes  and  stockings.  "They're  big 
enough  now  for  Badorful." 

"All  right!"  cried  the  Goblin.  "Here  we  go;"  and, 
taking  the  shoes  and  stockings  in  his  hand,  he  plunged 
into  the  spring,  and  a  moment  afterward  scrambled  out 
exactly  Davy's  size. 

"Now,  that's    what    I  call   a  nice,  tidy  size,"   said  the 
Goblin,   complacently,   while  Davy  was   squeezing  his   feet 
into   his  wet  shoes.      "What   do  you   say  to   a  ride   on   a 
Geld-mouse?" 
"That  will  be  glorious!"    said  Davy. 


154 


DAVY    AND     THE    GOBLIN. 


"Well,  there  goes  the  sun,"  said  the  Goblin;  "it  will 
be  moonlight  presently,  and  moonlight  is  the  time  for 
mouse-back  riding;"  and  as  he  spoke,  the  sun  went  down 
with  a  boom  like  a  distant  gun,  and  left  them  in  the 
dark.  The  next  moment  the  moon  rose  above  the  trees 


"  '  FRECKLES,'     SAID    THE     GOBLIN,     'WHAT    TIME     IS     IT?"* 

and  beamed  down  pleasantly  upon  them,   and  the   Gobliu, 
taking  Davy  by  the  hand,   led  him  into  the  wood. 


w  Freckles,"   said  the   Goblin,  "what  time  is  it?" 
They  were  now  in  the  densest  part  of  the  wood,  where 
the  moon  was  shining  brightly  on  a  little  pool  with  rushes 


THE    END     OF    THE    BELIEVING    VOYAGE.  155 

growing  about  it,  and  the  Goblin  was  speaking  to  a  large 
Toad. 

*  Forty  croaks,"  said  the  Toad,  in  a  husky  whisper; 
and  then,  as  a  frog  croaked  in  the  pool,  he  added,  "That 
makes  it  forty-one.  The  Snoopers  have  come  in,  and 
Thimbletoes  is  shaking  in  his  boots."  And  with  these 
words  the  Toad  coughed,  and  then  hopped  heavily  away. 

"What   does   he   mean?"   whispered  Davy. 

"He  means  that  the  fairies  are  here,  and  that  means 
that  we  won't  get  our  ride,"  said  the  Goblin,  rather  sulkily. 

"  And  who   is   Thimbletoes?  "  said  Davy. 

"He's  the  Prime  Minister,"  said  the  Goblin.  "You  see, 
if  any  one  of  the  Snoopers  finds  out  something  the  Queen 
didn't  know  before,  out  goes  the  Prime  Minister,  and 
the  Snooper  pops  into  his  boots.  Thimbletoes  doesn't 
fancy  that,  you  know,  because  the  Prime  Minister  has 
all  the  honey  he  wants,  by  way  of  a  salary.  Now, 
here's  the  mouse-stable,  and  don't  you  speak  a  word  — 
mind!" 

As  the  Goblin  said  this  they  came  upon  a  little 
thatched  building,  about  the  size  of  a  baby-house,  stand- 
ing just  beyond  the  pool;  and  the  Goblin,  cautiously 
pushing  open  the  door,  stole  noiselessly  in,  with  Davy 
following  at  his  heels,  trembling  with  excitement. 

The  little  building  was  curiously  lighted  up  by  a  vast 
number  of  fire-flies,  hung  from  the  ceiling  by  loops  of 
cobweb;  and  Davy  could  see  several  spiders  hurrying 
about  among  them  and  stirring  them  up  when  the  light 


156  DAVY    AND     TiIE     GOBLIN. 

grew  dim.  The  field-mice  were  stabled  in  little  stalls 
on  either  side,  each  one  with  his  tail  neatly  tied  in  a 
bow-knot  to  a  ring  at  one  side;  and,  at  the  farther  end 
of  the  stable  was  a  buzzing  throng  of  fairies,  with  their 
shining  clothes  and  gauzy  wings  sparkling  beautifully  in 
the  soft  light.  Just  beyond  them  Davy  saw  the  Queen 
sitting  on  a  raised  throne,  with  a  little  mullen-stalk  for 
a  sceptre,  and  beside  her  was  the  Prime  Minister,  in  a 
terrible  state  of  agitation. 

"  Now,  here's  this  Bandy  bug,"  the  Prime  Minister  was 
saying.  "What  does  he  know  about  untying  the  knots 
in  a  cord  of  wood?" 

"Nothing!"  said  the  Queen,  positively.  "Absolutely 
nothing ! " 

"  And  then,"  continued  the  Prime  Minister,  "  the  idea 
of  his  presuming  to  tell  your  Gossamer  Majesty  that  he 
can  hear  the  bark  of  the  dogwood  trees "  — 

"  Bosh !  "  cried  the  Queen.  "  Paint  him  with  raspberry 
jam,  and  put  him  to  bed  in  a  bee-hive.  That'll  make 
him  smart,  at  all  events." 

Here  the  Prime  Minister  began  dancing  about  in  an 
ecstasy,  until  the  Queen  knocked  him  over  with  the  mul- 
len-stalk, and  shouted,  "  Silence  I  and  plenty  of  it,  too. 
Bring  in  Berrylegs." 

Berrylegs,  who  proved  to  be  a  wiry  little  Fairy,  with 
a  silver  coat  and  tight,  cherry-colored  trousers,  was  im- 
mediately brought  in.  His  little  wings  fairly  bristled 
with  defiance,  and  his  manner,  as  he  stood  before  the 


THE    END     OF    THE    BELIEVING     VOYAGE. 


157 


Queen,   was   so   impudent,   that    Davy  felt   morally   certain 
there  was   going  to   be   a   scene. 

"May    it    please    your    Transparent    Highness,"  —  began 
Berrylegs. 


'DAVY  FELT  MORALLY   CERTAIN   THERE   WAS   GOING  TO   BE  A   SCENE. 


w  Skip  all  that ! "  interrupted  the  Queen,  flourishing  her 
mullen-stalk. 

"Skip,  yourself!"  said  Berrylegs,  boldly,  in  reply. 
*  Don't  you  suppose  I  know  how  to  talk  to  a  Queen?" 

The   Queen   turned  very  pale,   and,  after   a  hurried  con- 


158  DAVY    AND     THE     GOBLIN. 

saltation  with  the  Prime  Minister,  said  faintly,  "Have  it 
your  own  way;"  and  Berry  legs  began  again. 

"May  it  please  your  Transparent  Highness,  I've  found 
out  how  the  needles  get  into  the  haystacks." 

As  Berrylegs  said  this  a  terrible  commotion  arose  at 
once  among  the  fairies.  The  Prime  Minister  cried  out, 
w  Oh,  come,  I  say !  That's  not  fair,  you  know,"  and  the 
Queen  became  so  agitated  that  she  began  taking  great 
bites  off  the  end  of  the  mullen-stalk  in  a  dazed  sort  of 
way;  and  Davy  noticed  that  the  Goblin,  in  his  excitement, 
was  trying  to  climb  up  on  one  of  the  mouse- stalls,  so  as 
to  get  a  better  view  of  what  was  going  on.  At  last  the 
Queen,  whose  mouth  was  now  quite  filled  with  bits  of 
the  mullen-stalk,  mumbled,  "Get  to  the  point." 

"  It  ought  to  be  a  sharp  one,  being  about  needles,"  said 
the  Prime  Minister,  attempting  a  joke,  with  a  feeble  laugh, 
but  no  one  paid  the  slightest  attention  to  him;  and  Berry- 
legs,  who  was  now  positively  swelling  with  importance, 
called  out,  in  a  loud  voice,  "It  comes  from  using  sewing- 
machines  when  they  sow  the  hay-seed !  " 

The  Prime  Minister  gave  a  shriek,  and  fell  flat  on  his 
face,  and  the  Queen  began  jumping  frantically  up  and 
down,  and  beating  about  on  all  sides  of  her  with  the  end 
of  the  mullen-stalk,  when  suddenly  a  large  Cat  walked 
into  the  stable,  and  the  fairies  fled  in  all  directions.  There 
was  no  mistaking  the  Cat,  and  Davy,  forgetting  entirely 
the  Goblin's  caution,  exclaimed,  "Why!  it's  Solomon!" 

The    next     instant    the     lights    disappeared,    and    Davy 


THE    END     OF    THE    BELIEVING     VOYAGE.  159 

found  himself  in  total  darkness,  with  Solomon's  eyes  shin- 
ing at  him  like  two  balls  of  fire.  There  was  a  confused 
sound  of  sobs  and  cries  and  the  squeaking  of  mice,  among 
which  could  be  heard  the  Goblin's  voice,  crying,  "Davy! 
Davy!"  in  a  reproachful  way;  then  the  eyes  disappeared, 
and  a  moment  afterward  the  stable  was  lifted  off  the 
ground  and  violently  shaken. 

"That's  Solomon,  trying  to  get  at  the  mice,"  thought 
Davy.  "I  wish  the  old  thing  had  stayed  away,"  he 
added  aloud,  and  as  he  said  this  the  little  stable  was 
broken  all  to  bits,  and  he  found  himself  sitting  on  the 
ground  in  the  forest. 

The  moon  had  disappeared,  and  snow  was  falling  rap- 
idly, and  the  sound  of  distant  chimes  reminded  Davy 
that  it  must  be  past  midnight,  and  that  Christmas-day 
had  come.  Solomon's  eyes  were  shining  in  the  darkness 
like  a  pair  of  coach-lamps,  and,  as  Davy  sat  looking  at 
them,  a  ruddy  light  began  to  glow  between  them,  and 
presently  the  figure  of  the  Goblin  appeared,  dressed  in 
scarlet,  as  when  he  had  first  come.  The  reddish  light 
was  shining  through  his  stomach  again,  as  though  the 
coals  had  been  fanned  into  life  once  more,  and  as  Davy 
gazed  at  him  it  grew  brighter  and  stronger,  and  finally 
burst  into  a  blaze.  Then  Solomon's  eyes  gradually  took 
the  form  of  great  brass  balls,  and  presently  the  figure 
of  the  long-lost  Colonel  came  into  view  just  above  them, 
affectionately  hugging  his  clock.  He  was  gazing  mourn- 
fully down  upon  the  poor  Goblin,  who  was  now  blazing 


160  DAVY    AND     THE    GOBLIXi. 

like  a  dry  chip,  and  as  the  light  of  the  fire  grew 
brighter  and  stronger  the  trees  about  slowly  took  the 
shape  of  an  old-fashioned  fireplace  with  a  high  mantel- 
shelf above  it,  and  then  Davy  found  himself  curled  up 
in  the  big  easy-chair,  with  his  dear  old  grandmother 
bending  over  him,  and  saying  gently,  "  Davy !  Davy  I 
Come  and  have  some  dinner,  my  dear ! " 
In  fact,  the  Believing  Voyage  was  ended. 


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